Maintaining reputation in art

I read Michael Stuart’s piece on Bruce Springsteen with interest and it inspired me to think of painters who maintained their reputation established when young and those that did not.

The list of great painters who were never well-known in their lifetime is as impressive as it is long: Van Gogh, Modigliani and Basquiat to name but three.

Gustav Klimt was well established as court painter to the Emperor Franz Josef when he broke away in the 1890s to paint those swirling, gold paintings which made his current reputation…but not till the 1950s.

Botticelli was not well known in his own time.

Conversely there are those whose reputation has lessened over the years.

Graham Sutherland was much esteemed in the twentieth century but his reputation has eclipsed since then.

Gwen John is now regarded as a better artist than her brother Augustus.

All sorts of factors affects a painter’s reputation.

It helps to die young like Egon Schiele.

Carel Weight, a much regarded artist 50 years ago, made the wrong gallery move who jacked up his prices.

You can now buy a Weight for less you could than 40 years ago.

And what of the artists who in cricketing terms “carried their bat”?

Rembrandt despite a rackety personal life that included bankruptcy has never been out of popularity.

Matissse and Picasso were more or less highly popular and their work sought after all their life.

Of the current crop the YBAs  (Young British Artists) are most comparable to Springsteen.

Damien Hirst’s  prices are dropping.

Ted Seago, the darling of the Royal Family and with a strong following, is maintaining his popularity with every generation but you never can tell.

Francis Bacon’s in-yer-face style of aggressive red paint might not survive at this level of price, more likely that David Hockney will.

John Minton, as well-known in the 50s as Bacon and Lucian Freud, is little known these days.

The “Me too” movement is powerful too.

The Bloomsbury artist Dora Carrington’s reputation might well soar on the back of it.

Be it music, art or sport, reputation is chimeric.