Original figurative painting “Le Gran Pere” was sold for $500 at a discount as part of a package deal to an international customer via my web site, KeatingArt.com last December, but was irreparably damaged on its journey when the Luxembourg Post accidentally dropped some heavy equipment on the box, ripping a 3” slash on the left side of this horizontal oil. The piece, depicting a grandpa and child at the beach painted from above, started a series of paintings that would later become the award-winning collection of works exhibited under the title Overview. Now, it was a broken, torn mess, sitting in my studio upon its return from Europe.
Troubled by the loss and fueled by an unfaltering passion to create, or just plane craziness, I took the torn canvas off of its stretcher, cut off the torn half of the piece, mounted the remains on Masonite and framed it in a frame that was found in a pile of trash in an alley behind an out-of-business gallery.
A good friend was organizing an event for the Hollyrod Foundation at the time, so I donated the piece to benefit individuals suffering from Parkinson’s Disease and provide support for their families. In addition to founding celebrities, Holly Robinson Peete & Rodney Peete, Michael J. Fox was on hand for the event where the remaining half of the same work that had been demolished in transit sold for the highest bid of $1100, more than double the original sales price of the entire painting, before it was damaged.
Warren Keating is an artist living in Los Angeles. His work can be viewed and purchased at KeatingArt.com. Fine Art Prints of his work can be found at KeatingArt.imagekind.com. For more information, go to WarrenKeating.com.
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Comments: 27
By the way, I love the title!
I would say it's fortunate that the gash was in a part of the painting that allowed it to be "cropped" and still keep it's original statement.
I'm trying to support the Downtown Los Angeles Gallery Row scene, but some of the better galleries have been closing or moving, seems like it's related to the economy. I'm in a festival up the coast in Ventura in November; I'm hoping "real world" sales are brisk! Meanwhile, my last two sales have been to Canada and the U.K.
Now, if I try that with a manuscript, I wonder what will happen...
Nah. Won't try it.