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03/15/2006: "Beyond The Money – Beyond The Painting"

I do need to sell just as badly as any one of you, but …

there are a couple of paintings I hold on to for a very long time. My wife will let me know that she would like to spend more time with one, or our two daughters, usually more blunt, simply forbid me to sell something they’ve seen lying around the studio and liked, and so I set them aside for a while longer – some, even, with the intention of forever. They’ll be shown alongside their siblings at an exhibition but they won’t have a price attached to them and from then on they will only be seen at home [or on absolutearts.com as Not for Sale]. The girls seem to have an uncanny sense for picking out the ones most likely to give us some guaranteed income – something I point out to them to no avail. In earlier years this was of some concern, but now it’s a family game I cherish. I believe I have mentioned in an earlier blog how they are in fact my most ferocious critics, and how their own intuition often comes into play when I am at a crossroads.

Quite mysteriously, and unknowingly, on those rare occasions in between shows when I open the doors of the house to show my work to someone who has manifested more than just the polite interest, my guests head for the ones I’m still holding on to, as if they knew [which, of course, they do, even if the painting isn’t hanging in a prominent place and happens to be leaning against the wall in a corner of the room]. In my experience so far, connoisseur or not, a regular visitor or initiate, affluent or having saved for some time before crossing the threshold of my house, they know what they are looking for and they tend to spot the best. This, of course, makes it all the more difficult for me to tell them that a particular piece is still being held back, but the atmosphere generally relaxes when I tell them about this game I have going with my girls.

I happen to believe that a visit to the artist’s studio or house should be a memorable occasion. What I am speaking about is not about shrouding the atmosphere with mystery or otherworldliness but about engaging in genuine communication, in displaying what the Germans call Gastfreundschaft, a friendlier word, somehow, than hospitality even though the sound of it may trick you into believing otherwise. I refuse to be subservient or to go out of my way and cease being who I am simply to please, but I do like to feel that my guests have left with more than just the painting [even if a painting isn’t taken in the end]. In the more enthusiastic cases, when empathy is struck, I’ll dash to the kitchen and get some coffee and cookies or a bottle of wine and we’ll loose the sense of time, which is always worth a smile… before the hesitant fall from grace when we both become aware that the topic of a price is about to be tackled.

For the artist this is always a delicate moment. The situation is universal: the artist wishes the deal to be as close as possible to a figure he has carried around in his head and would make him feel compensated for parting with his work, and the client seems invariably keen on getting away with less. How do you substantiate a number? How do you stand your ground and justify, beyond the ineffability of the inspirational input, the material and temporal investments you have sustained to be able to reach this moment, without bordering on the callous and pulling the encounter down from the high point it had reached? For this, too, I have come up with a game, one that I only play in the confines of my house or studio, and when the awkward moment is upon us I suggest we play it. The rules are simple and I lay them out straightforwardly, without much beating around the bush. At home [or at the studio] there are, you see, two sets of prices, one for the barterer and one for those who accept me at my word and gladly abdicate from challenging it further [the price any visitor can become acquainted with on absolutearts.com]. Most of the times, though not always, curiosity is aroused and having almost hit the ground we find ourselves fumbling for our glass while I explain this odd arrangement and we come close once again to the heights we had attained, anxious to engage in the game. Most of the times, though not always, the day is saved for both of us.

Should you ever pop by the house or studio with the intention of taking a look at some paintings, and should we happen to reach that stage when our thoughts come too close to the ground, I will gladly explain the difference in the figures quoted. However, most importantly – and having bartered or not – I would hope we manage to make it a memorable day, a bonus beyond the painting you would take back with you – or not.

Replies: 9 Comments

on Monday, March 20th, jose freitas cruz said

thanks for your comments Paul and welcome to the artblogs. i'll go and have a look and send you my views.

on Sunday, March 19th, Paul Cooklin said

Hello - interesting post. Im a newbie to this Blog but wanted to post to say I agree with you about pricing. We should stay consistent where possible, the venue or gallery may alter but the art piece is still the same art piece.

Id appreciate your comments on my modern art gallery here at http://www.paulcooklin.com

Happy posting.

on Friday, March 17th, jose freitas cruz said

Walt, there are plenty of those too, the ones I like but no one picks. Brad, thanks for the chance to talk and explain. More and more I prefer to keep the blog simple and expand through responses to comments than put all the information in one big text where ideas get lost. Andrew, spot on!

on Friday, March 17th, Andrew said

Jose, in the end, it is about how you have lived the moment, and how sincerely a guest, be they an artist or not, has lived that moment with you. It may be over a glass of wine and some good food, as have been many of my 'peak' instants in life, and although we create, what's different about these is that there are others there with you who participate in creating the atmosphere. That is the element that goes beyond money, and seeing your work again after some time has passed, in someone's home often reminds you that the moment is by no means passed, but is eternal, and that you can have a part of it again any time you want. Perhaps this is why non artists acquire art, so as to experience through the skills of others a moment that goes beyond the work itself, and into a time that was lived well, when someone reached you and you reached back, and both of you understood. A postcard is static, but a painting is a piece of life.

on Thursday, March 16th, Brad Michael Moore said

Jose,
I was hoping to evoke a response from you that perhaps would better clarify (to me) this process of holding back the select few. I feel I understand your viewpoint better now – thanks. I know of some artists who have works they won't sell – but sometimes loan to a friend or colleague for keeping until they want or 'need' them back. As we artists grow through our careers, and our work changes, I think it is important for some to hold back representations of the milestones. They're presence makes you a grander host for those guests fortunate to share the company of your home, family, and art. There can be no better satisfaction I can imagine of (as an artist) to have this kind of experience. Artist visits can indeed be rewarding experiences for both the host and the guest.

I have a number of sculptural pieces I've made and have been unwilling to part with. The reasons are several, and personal. I don't have the kind of support system surrounding me that allows my capability to build newer works as I would wish to. I enjoy watching people interact with some of my 3-D pieces that have kinetic properties (physically and visually). I don't want to part with this aspect of theses pieces – knowing I'll never likely replace them. Even if I never do another 3-D again, as long as I can channel my creativity towards other successful manifestations, that both meets my yearnings, and pacify my inner concerns for a while – this personal system works for me... Successful painters must give up some much of their work – many pieces they may not see again (in person). As a photo artist, I know I have no real orphans as long as I preserve my film materials from which they are created. I do recognize that now – since I retired the photo print process and took up the Pigmented Ink Process (which holds truer archival properties) – I hold some reverence towards letting go of my older hand-made images created in that elder, less stable, process. Still, the performance of 'letting go' is different with other art mediums... My sculptures, and glass paintings, have allowed me the experience of letting go of some creations, while deciding to keep others – ever when absurd offers are made to convince me otherwise. Art, like our lives represents the complexities that we are.

on Thursday, March 16th, walt said

Jose, my experience has been that the works I feel most strongly about are not the ones buyers generally are interested in. They are rarely the ones that are accepted into juried shows, or, even if they do get in to shows lesser works seem to be the ones given awards or written about in reviews. So it has never been a problem hanging on to the good ones. I have always been baffled by this. Ah, but in truth it only tells me that my reasons are not their reasons.

on Thursday, March 16th, jose freitas cruz said

Brad,

My ‘Lolas’ are far from getting what they want, but I know also that this was not what you were implying. The artists and mentors I’ve had the privilege of working with always cautioned me to keep aside one or two works of each series that I produced. Never to sell everything. This ‘game’ with my girls is the way I go about selecting those pieces. I can understand your frustration [and that of potential buyers] when they come upon a piece of mine they would like and it is either sold or being held back. I know this is not your case - and that your are genuinely communicating with me as an artist that those pieces you like are already gone – and I know we must share this experience in common: a visitor to an exhibition will come up to you and say how sorry he is that he can’t buy your work because the piece he wants has been sold or is not for sale. Am I wrong? We’ve all experienced it, I’m sure.

Perhaps I owe the viewers an explanation. ‘The Blue Boat’ on page 12 was a piece I made as a gift for my mother and has come back into my possession since she died. ‘The 3 Graces on page 11 was a gift to my brother a deep-sea explorer and treasure-hunter who shared many of his tales while I was working on the water series. The Dynamic Portraits are marked Not For Sale by mistake, they were sold in Brunei. The two works on page 13 from the ‘Christ and the Bodhisattva’ series are the only ones I will hold on to forever. The others I’m still holding on to are not shown.

Why keep the Sold pieces on aa. I’ve been asked that tons of times. I don’t use aa simply as a means to sell but mainly as a means to keep a register of the progression of my work. An e-book of how my work has evolved from the watercolour days till whenever and how far I manage to go. As I move along to the next series I’ll go back and revise and reduce the size of previous paintings on show but try to keep the idea of progression.

Some people also get very angry when they find out a painting they had wished for is sold later. This, I’m afraid, is Karma. The fear and the anger comes from a misplaced notion that everything is up for grabs when they come into contact with it. This is not so. I like to feel that I part with my paintings under the right circumstance: at the right time, to the right person, to the complete satisfaction of both parties, in full understanding and acceptance of what is gained.

A friend has been asking me to write about a few things I am reluctant to disclose, but this one seems pertinent. For over ten years I was a translator for a Tibetan lama but I won’t elaborate too much on this because this isn’t the place for that story. This teacher of mine carried with him a beautiful statue everybody wished to acquire, claiming in their innocence [or not] that he could get himself a new one back in India. Eight years down the road he handed it to me to give to someone he had met from Portugal in exchange for an offering of some sort he had in mind. For over a year, by telephone, by mail, repeatedly, I tried to locate this person but failed. When I managed to get myself back to India I took the statue and handed it back. They say one should possess 3 Buddhas. One bought, one stolen, one offered. I still cant figure this one out though, was it given me by my teacher, was it paid for by my offering or was it stolen because I failed to deliver it to its rightful initial recipient? I’m sure you can find loads of these tales, and better told, in numerous books.

I like to believe that my mentors in art have taught me the right tools to keep me on a steady line of learning and development that will benefit my art. I also want to believe that my other teachers have taught me other tools that can help me bring some of the magic of their world into ours in the right way. That is why I paint and that is why I hold some of it back until the right moment comes. Definitely not because of ‘Lola’.

on Thursday, March 16th, Brad Michael Moore said

Jose,
I've recently looked at every image in your aa pages – looking for something to have and hold. It is now curious to read your blog, for the artworks I like the best are not for sale. Indeed, some are sold as well. A number are years old. Now I know who to blame for what I cannot have, for any price - even to consider, or ask you to consider, right?!!! But seriously, part of having a family is fitting into it most naturally. The phrase, "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets," carries many meanings beyond how it became famous (in a song)- still it is a truth between men and women, fathers and daughters, husbands and wives (lovers and others)... You can’t put a value to an understanding held between you and someone you love – who loves you back, unconditionally, grown together in the way things are…

on Wednesday, March 15th, jose freitas cruz said

I didn’t know how to fit this in with the text of the blog, took it out, but later found it helps to dispel any suspicions of speculation or bluff from my part and so I’m sending it out as an extra comment:

My prices remain the same whether in a gallery, at home or on absolutearts. This is, I believe, an essential practice if you are an independent artist who has to fend for himself and do not want to be shunned even further by galleries. I have always preferred to get less in a gallery situation or from a sale through this site, than adjust my prices according to percentages charged. When an agreement is met regarding percentage and what can be expected in return, the gain I perceive is of another nature and I have found that by accepting this [inwardly] I am able to maintain a more harmonious understanding with both galleries and clients. My prices are known and publicised, and indexed every five years according to the goals I have achieved – in Europe or Asia I simply round the sum to the nearest ten or hundred when doing the exchange rate (because so far prices on absolutearts.com are uploaded in US$ and I prefer that first figure to make the impact).

I am wary of speculation and the difference in price that occurs due to ‘the game’ is of a different nature altogether. For one, whoever gets to come to the house and reaches that stage when we might play ‘the game’ has already been informed about absolutearts.com and will have had the chance to do a bit of homework. What I point out [in softer words, of course] is that when we reach that stage of ‘the game’ I have done my share of the work. We are on par. If I am to be expected to work a bit harder to get what I need to stay happy, we cease to be on par and I will seek a point of advantage: the figure quoted will necessarily be higher and the agreement reached never as advantageous as the figure I would reveal otherwise.

Surely this is within the realm of fair play. The most important thing for me, however, is to recapture what I spoke about in the blog – very few things leave me as unfulfilled as a painting that has left me purely for money’s sake.