CHECKLISTS For Remembering Respected Artists

The last two posts I've written have both been about prominent artists and illustrators who are recently deceased. I learned a lot while writing them. As a result, I've developed this post which covers:

• Basic principles for remembering an artist
• Memberships of Art Societies
• Obituaries and Tributes
• Retrospective Exhibitions / Websites

It comments on what happens as artists get older / reach the end of their lives and includes some short checklists of things to think about if you are an artist, an art gallery or an art society and want to remember a respected artist.

Plus a reference to a free resource I've developed for all those artists whose end is nearer than their beginning.

CHECKLIST: Basic Principles for Remembering an Artist

• 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!

See The Art Legacy on my website Art Business Info. for Artists

GOOD PRACTICE: Obituary Pages and Legacy Sites

From the Obituaries Page on the Royal Society of British Artists website

I noted while compiling my recent blog posts that some long established art societies have now established Obituary Pages on their websites. 

It struck me that this recognised that prominent artists who have made a significant contribution to a society are NOT just those artists from history that art societies like to write about when boasting about their pedigree. They are also artists from the present.

So, by way of example, take a look at:

• Royal Society of British Artists - Obituaries Page - although interestingly this is not readily accessible via the main menu - which puzzled me.
• Pastel Society - Obituaries - accessible from the main menu - but via news rather than via members section.
• New English Art Club - List of All Past Members - This lists the artists in alphabetical order and provides a link to
• where you can see their art
• the tribute article about them

NEAC FAQs Page includes a question about past members

How you categorise lists can be a challenge. 

• Do you do it by surname - and hence are fair to all? 
• Do you group by decade of election to membership? Making it more accessible for those knowing the age of the artist....
• Do you highlight those more prominent? 
• Do you highlight past officers and those who worked hard for an art society?

There's no right answer - but it is worth giving some thought to. I'd argue there's scope for creating a database approach that allows people to search - although I doubt this will be a priority for any working member. Maybe a project for an enthusiastic and relevant skilled supporter?

CHECKLIST: Memberships of Art Societies

One of the critical things to do is to respect achievements through membership of art societies / groups 

• in the death announcement
• by the art society / art group

The thing is that these days people are getting very much older and more infirm before they die. Continuing memberships can therefore be seen as something that is marginal to their life or an expensive indulgence. Which means some artists may not be members when they die - even if they have been past members. Hence those producing obituaries of members may rule them out as no longer relevant....

GOOD PRACTICE: Create ways for members to remain members

The major benefit of enabling members to remain members is that you can respect them when their time is done.

I used to spend time at Private Views lobbying Council members to think about the future. To think about:

• how older members can continue to be members without it being too much of a burden or too expensive
• how to create space for more artwork by younger members / open entries by restricting 'free space' for older members whose skills were very evidently in decline. (This was essentially about improving the standard of art in an exhibition - but was done after learning that many older members felt obliged to continue to "do their bit" in producing multiple works - but would rather like to do less and stay a member!)

My suggestion was to promote older members to a new category of membership (eg Fellow or Senior Member) - to show they were valued and could continue - but with less responsibilities.

I can now see much evidence that this has happened. Art Societies now have:

• different categories of membership for older members (Honorary / Fellow / Senior)
• some are free AND they continue to be listed as a member
• some restrict how many entries to an annual exhibition a member has as of right. Typically it's one.

CHECKLIST: Obituaries and Tributes

Death is inevitable. Sometimes it is unexpected. More often we know beforehand and can anticipate what is coming - and plan ahead!

What's very odd, in my view, is that announcements about who an artist is, what they achieved and key facts seem to be often left until AFTER death has occurred and the person who knows the facts has passed away!

GOOD PRACTICE: Accurate and Respectful Obituaries

There are two ways of remembering an individual artist

• an obituary - tends to focus on the factual
• a tribute - tends to focus on people's memories of the individual

Prepare a death announcement / obituary and/or tribute in advance. 

The obituary should focus on the important facts of their life. Some people actually enjoy being part of this process of recording their life and knowing that what they achieved will be represented accurately. 

As and when a death occurs, the substance and the fact checking has  already been done and all it needs is to be updated and refined - and can then be published promptly.

The Tribute should endeavour to capture people's memories and feelings and stories about the individual. It's more informal and compiles the memories of more than one contributor and often gives a much better sense of who the individual was.

• see Tribute to Tom Coates - from fellow NEAC Members

The major benefit of doing this in advance is you can draw on the memories of those who were contemporaries of the individual and they can write/relate facts and feelings about the member before these are lost forever - because they too have died.....

CHECKLIST: Retrospective Exhibition / Websites

It's not uncommon for art societies to provide a tribute hang of a few pieces in the Annual Exhibition following the demise of a member. 

However very few have a proper retrospective exhibition.

I very much enjoyed seeing the retrospective exhibition of the work by Victor Ambrus at the Bankside Gallery last week. See A celebration of Victor Ambrus

We're very much used to retrospectives being associated with major and/or very well known artists and illustrators. 

I'm left wondering if whether illustrators are maybe more organised about retrospectives? For example - Raymond Briggs: A Retrospective is at the Cambridge University Library this month. It's a touring exhibition organised by the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration

However it would be nice to see more such retrospective exhibitions where it's possible to do this. Here's a few things to think about:

• Retrospective exhibitions can enable sales of artwork which might otherwise be difficult to sell. It's a good reason if raising money is important.
• Access to good quality artwork representative of their life's work
• Not every artist will have enough good artwork in their archive to be able to stage an exhibition. (It struck me that one of the reasons the Victor Ambrus exhibition was a success was that some of the artwork was produced for reproduction - as fine art prints or illustrations - and not sold)
• IF an artist maintained good records of where their sold artwork is, the Estate can then ask for artwork to be loaned for a retrospective exhibition. However this takes a LOT of time!
• Not every artist will merit and/or want a retrospective exhibition. 
• Putting on an exhibition is not cheap!
• Not every family could afford the rental and organisation of such an exhibition 
• However the Estate of an Individual could provide a budget for such an exhibition.

One way of maintaining a memory is to maintain the artist's website - however this requires somebody with the competence and commitment to do this. The other issue relates to whether the artist's website is worth preserving or whether it would be better to start again! For example, I was very surprised to find that Tom Coates no longer had a website. Obviously in this instance, a memorial website would need to be new.

Then there are the enthusiasts! I'm maintaining a suite of pages dedicated to Notable 20th & 21st century Botanical Artists​ of the past on my Botanical Art website. Notable artists from all over the world who meet the criteria to be included on my website - who have died - get a mention. Those who are particularly famous and/or important get a dedicated page. I'm having to think about how to maintain the website when I "shuffle off" given its the leading online resource for botanical art and about famous botanical artists!

It's entirely possible that an Art Society could maintain a website - or a section of its website - about its history and its past members - as indeed some have started to do. Interestingly maintaining famous names on your website helps stimulate traffic.

GOOD PRACTICE: Prepare for a Retrospective Exhibition / Website

Think in advance about the basics of organising a retrospective exhibition

• whether the artist would like to have a retrospective exhibition - before or after their death
• whether the public would be interested in viewing a retrospective exhibition
• whether it should be selling exhibition - or just a viewing one.
• how to access good quality artwork for the exhibition
• who is going to organise it
• where to hold it
• how to fund it - which should in some ways be the first question!

Review alternative OPTIONS for keeping artists' artwork available to view. This can be online.

Options for online viewing include

• a memorial website run by the Estate and/or the Artist's Family
• a memorial website run by an Art Society (or website 'history of the society' section)
• a website run by an art gallery eg see Estates section of the Mall Galleries website. These are typically associated with selling artworks which form part of the Estate.

Mall Galleries is pleased to feature work by selected late member artists, exclusively online, to continue their association with the Federation of British Artists and celebrate their legacy.

• a website run by a fan - as many are! (Including by me!)

More about The Art Legacy

I've developed a FREE resource about Art Legacies and things to think about before and after the death of an artist. You can find it at The Art Legacy on Art Business Info. for Artists.

This section is about what an artist, an art collector - or their Executor - needs to know regarding Estate Planning and the management of an Estate including art BEFORE and AFTER the death of an artist or an art collector.