Ann King's Artwork

I went up to Ann King's house in Topanga this morning to see her artwork. You may remember that Ann died about six weeks ago, and her artwork has been selling like hotcakes since then. I bought this small self portrait that she painted on the cover of a pad of Arches watercolor paper:



Ann's house is for sale for 3.5 million, and it has a studio to die for. I took pictures of the studio while I was there:






The studio has a view of the garden, the pool and the mountains.

Ann's artwork is very personal and autobiographical, and for that reason I don't think it sold well while she was alive. But now that she's gone, people who knew her want it as something to remember her by.

It has made me think about the purpose and reason for art. Art that is very personal can be more difficult to sell, but ultimately, I think it has more meaning than art that doesn't reveal much about the artist. How personal can I get with my work and still remain commercially viable? Or do I have to have two bodies of work -- the impersonal for sales, and the personal for immortality?

Topanga Canyon Gallery will be having a memorial show of Ann's artwork September 20th through October 16th of this year.