What needs to happen after an artist dies
some of the practical actions an Executor needs to take.
PLUS What happens after an artist dies to the price of their art?
some of the practical actions an Executor needs to take.
PLUS What happens after an artist dies to the price of their art?
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This page covers:
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What happens to Artists' Estates?
What's it really like for those dealing with an artist's or art collector's legacy of artwork after their death?
Dealing with an Artist's Estate is NOT EASY.
Just like people who are not artists, a lot of headaches and time can be saved by starting on the process of sorting out a prospective Estate before the person has died.
You can then ask an artist (assuming they are compos mentis and their memory is not too bad)
You can ensure that the Will stipulates the artist's wishes as to what should happen to the artwork. NB Don't assume this can happen - some proposed donations are not always welcomed!
READ AND LEARN: Below are some stories about what happened to artists' estates.
Dealing with an Artist's Estate is NOT EASY.
Just like people who are not artists, a lot of headaches and time can be saved by starting on the process of sorting out a prospective Estate before the person has died.
You can then ask an artist (assuming they are compos mentis and their memory is not too bad)
- title and approximate date of an artwork
- what should be saved
- what can be chucked
You can ensure that the Will stipulates the artist's wishes as to what should happen to the artwork. NB Don't assume this can happen - some proposed donations are not always welcomed!
READ AND LEARN: Below are some stories about what happened to artists' estates.
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The Artist Estate:
A Handbook for Artists, Executors, and Heirs
by Loretta Wurtenberger
A Handbook for Artists, Executors, and Heirs
by Loretta Wurtenberger
  RATED:
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This handbook covers
The author explains:
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Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Hatje Cantz Published: August 2016 BUY THIS BOOK from: The Artist Estate: A Handbook for Artists, Executors, and Heirs
 from Amazon.com |
About the author: Loretta Wurtenberger has a business (The Institute for Artists' Estates) which has advised on the setting up and execution of artists estates for many years - with a bias towards Germany. She studied law, philosophy and art history and earned her doctorate in international copyright and patent law at the Max Planck Institute. Subsequently she became the youngest ever judge at the Berlin district court. She also manages artist's estates.
What happens to artwork prices after an artist dies?
Does an artist’s death make their artwork more valuable?
Selling prices do not automatically go up when an artist dies. In the overwhelming majority of cases, an artist's passing has little if any impact on their prices. Most artists age gracefully over time and gradually produce less as they get older. A significant number stop making art altogether, sometimes well in advance of their departures to that great art studio in the sky. In other words, their passings come as little or no surprise to anyone and their prices remain basically the same.
Alan Bamberger (on Facebook)
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The value of an artist's artwork - within his estate - can remain the same OR may go up OR down.
It depends on
There can be a surge in demand after a death - but this can also taper off fast. Those whose artworks retain their value are:
However, there is also a notion that any increase in value is factored in BEFORE the artist dies Essentially art markets are just like any other market, they factor in expected changes before they happen - and when an artist gets very old and/or stops making artwork, the value of their artwork gets adjusted BEFORE they die. |
REFERENCE:
“The fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts.” |
The Economics of America Art: Issues, Artists and Market Institutions
by Robert B. Ekelund Jr., John D. Jackson, et al.
by Robert B. Ekelund Jr., John D. Jackson, et al.
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This book is about looking at the Art Market from an economists perspective i.e. scholarly analysis and NOT wishful or speculative thinking
Economists have, for some decades, studied such issues as
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Hardback: 386 pages
ISBN 10: 0190657898 ISBN 13: 978-0190657895 Publisher: Oxford University Press Published: 3 July 2017 (1st edition) BUY THIS HARDBACK BOOK: The Economics of America Art: Issues, Artists and Market Institutions from Amazon UK ​The Economics of America Art: Issues, Artists and Market Institutions from Amazon.com
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RATED:
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The authors are:
Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. is Professor and Eminent Scholar Emeritus in economics at Auburn University. John D. Jackson is Professor of Economics, Emeritus at Auburn University. Robert D. Tollison (deceased) was the J. Wilson Newman Professor Economics at Clemson University. He came to Clemson in 2003. |
Disposal of the artworks forming part of the Estate
The key thing is to make sure that an art collection that goes to auction is placed with the best auction house to reach the right people
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Essentially, the disposal of retained artworks in the collection of the artist is absolutely no different to the disposal of artworks in the collection of an art collector. SEE Estate Planning for Art Collectors |
REFERENCE:
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.....in the wake of an artist’s death, take your time to see how the art world and auction houses react. While prices might spike in the short term, seeing a slow, sensible rise in value is always the safest bet. |
Art is valued on a number of factors and one is availability—how many works by that artist are on the market at one time. If a “block” of similar works were to suddenly appear simultaneously on the market, this appearance would result in a reduction of the fair market value for each individual item. |
What to do with artists' paperwork? (artists' letters, artists' papers & ephemera)
Artwork isn't the only thing an Executor needs to think about when disposing of the Estate of an Artist
- Artists' Papers Register - homepage
Artists' Papers Register: A location register of the papers of artists, designers and craftspeople held in publicly accessible collections in the United Kingdom and IrelandThe Artists' Papers Register represents a more current, detailed and extensive - Artbusiness.com - Artist Letters, Photographs, Documents, Personal Papers
Q: My great grandmother was friends and corresponded with a well-known American artist for several years in the late 1800's, and I have a number of letters and two photographs of the artist saved from the relationship. Are these worth anything?
What to do about an artists digital assets?
Paper ephemera are not the only type of accounts and files which an Executor needs to deal with. It's now also vital to locate and access digital accounts and digital folders and files - particularly if these include high resolution digital files of an artist's artwork
An Executor will need to know:
Reference:
An Executor will need to know:
- where these are located and
- how an account or archive can be accessed
- a number of sites (eg Facebook) now provide for you to detail a person who can manage your site in the event of your death.
Reference:
- What happens to your digital assets after you die? | Janet Brewer - JDSupra
In this day and age, however, there is a new category of assets to consider: digital assets. Internet users should be considering what will happen to their digital assets, including social media accounts, email accounts, online document storage, and
Remembering an Artist - after death
- If an artist is respected, then celebrate their memory.
- Have your facts and statements written in advance if possible - for tailoring and editing only. That's what all the news platforms do.
- The artist may have died but their artwork has not. It can continue to sell and generate income - but only if you are organised!
- Think about how the legacy can continue before rather than after death!
CHECKLISTS For Remembering Respected Artists | Making A Mark
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You don't need to wait for an artist to die to have a good long hard think about best to remember them
Taking down the artist's website BEFORE they have died can, in my opinion be a big mistake. It provides a point of reference for communicating with people about:
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