Canal through the park, 1978
by Felix Kelly
Sold by Artcurial, Paris for EUR6,800
When I first saw this picture last week on the auction site, (from whence this image comes), the estimate was about EUR500 and the starting price about EUR350.
I knew from a similar work sold at an auction at Christie's in London which I attended that it would in all likelihood fetch considerably more. I knew of the artist because a friend of mine owned two, which he bought when we both lived in Hong Kong in the 1990s.
The picture immediately made me think of this friend, with whom I had recently been in touch, after a long period of estrangement. I contacted him in December because I learned that he had recently had a stroke and was in poor health, and we began a brief period of correspondence, discussing amongst other things art and pictures that I thought might make his life a bit more interesting, as he was now immobile and reliant on a friend and a nurse to go about normal daily activities.
I last wrote to him, (we used fax because he never mastered the computer), on Christmas Day to wish him a pleasant day, (however unlikely that might have been, given his condition). I never heard back, but nor did I expect to, because I knew it was an enormous effort, and required assistance. When I saw the Kelly picture last week I was about to write again to mention it, the mispricing, and how I remembered his own two. I never did get around to that.
This morning I received an email from a mutual friend who lives in New Zealand to tell me that he had died yesterday morning, in his flat in London. The picture sold in Paris yesterday.
Felix Kelly painted this picture in Auckland.
I have mixed emotions. I am relieved that he no longer suffers the indignity that can burden the victim of a severe stroke, and I feel hugely glad that we reconnected, however briefly, before he died. I think the picture was a message to confirm that.
16 comments:
My Grandfather, a successful Architect in Germany suffered a stroke leaving him relient on others. With his mind trapped in a body over which he had no control, he could not speak or write, his enormous frustration was all too evident. The only time I ever saw him really happy, apart from the evident pleasue he derived from visits by his Grandchildren, was when I sneaked him out of the house one day and took him for a hair raising ride in my car, at one stage maxing it out on the Autobahn (it was limited to 155mph). He was laughing and repeating the only really intelligle word I heard him enunciate, 'Toll!' which means 'fantastic!'. Probably the first bit of excitement he had enjoyed in years.
I am sorry to hear about your friend.
I have only ever bid once on an on-line auction (an auction house in Germany) for a painting I decided I liked very much. Knowing nothing about art I had merely decided that the estimate was affordable and was dismayed to see the bidding soar ahead of that and peak at nearly twenty times higher. Never mind, there's always another auction!
Thinking about that last remark of mine and having read your executive jet post in which you speak of launching your career as a male model, I could see you hosting a TV series on art entitled, 'There's Always Another Auction'. The life of a jetset art dealer. I am sure it would be very popular...
I am so glad you reconnected while there was still time, at whatever level the reconnection was possible. Art is always a great topic to discuss because art doesn't care if some one had been thoughtless or someone had been too busy. We love art for its own sake!
How old was your friend?
Dear Hippo
I can only imagine that having a stroke is the worst sort of death sentence, trapping people who were once vibrant. My friend was an eminent silk in Hong Kong and had a razor sharp mind, which cost him many friendships, including own own. He was also witty, but could be very unkind in what he said. I got to a stage where I no longer wanted to play. I was so very glad that we communicated in a friendly way, both in reality, and in my surreal story of the picture.
Yes, indeed there is always another auction. I shall call the pilot now, to go and bid in person on my next quest.
Hels - yes, it was a neutral subject and one that interested both of us, so it helped to restart a conversation that had long since faltered, and now is silent. He was 75.
I had a similar experience several years ago. I lost touch with the best friend of my childhood and didn't hear from him for more than 30 years. When we did reconnect, it was for him to tell me that he was dying of ALS. I was able to visit him for a week while he still had some mobility, and we both had important closure.
I think experiences like that can be among our most important lifetime acts, and I am glad you too had the chance to reconnect.
Suffering a stroke or similar would be one of my worst nightmares, I can't imagine not even being able to cancel out my own chips. Horrible.
Now that painting is one I would definitely give wall-room to, somehow it seems to have depth and substance behind the visible detail. Nice one.
Mark - it does feel as though it ended properly. He was much older than me, but had a huge influence in many areas of my life, and I have many happy memories, which I'd prefer to remember over the less happy ones.
Owl - Perhaps I should have bid, as it would have been a poignant reminder of an extraordinary friendship over 37 years. But it's in my mind's eye, so that is the safest place.
Even when there has been no estrangement, there is a satisfaction in reconnecting with people we've been out of contact with. In the sad case of someone's becoming ill or dying, such as your friend, the effort is repaid on several levels.
About the Kelly painting, I like it very much, and with its quality and complexity I'm sure that the EUR500 was only a get-the-ball-rolling figure, not a real estimate (unless of course there were condition issues).
A poignant pause and reflection with an image anchor that impressed me and has filled me with curiosity about a painter who can paint in this anachronistic way and yet the work manages to communicate.
Parnassus - nicely expressed. I think the auction house genuinely mis-priced, as they subsequently adjusted the "starting price", from EUR350 to EUR2,800.
Paul - yes, I enjoyed Kelly's work when I fist saw it in the 1990s. There's always an amusing quirkiness about them. He did a lot of commissions of people's houses, and there's usually unexpected pieces plonked into the landscape, such as the steamer on the canal, but often more bizarre things.
Thank you for your recent comment on my blog; actually I had already come across you, again perhaps through thebluerememberedhills? Anyway, by whatever means, I was delighted to have discovered your work.
That is rather poignant about your old pal's death. You can console yourself with the thought that there is no unfinished business.
As for the Felix Kelly and disparity between estimate and final price, presumably that is because the work was being offered in Paris where his name (and oeuvre) would not be familiar. One of the less-remarked features of the internet is that it has allowed all of us to follow sales around the world with ease, and therefore to bid on items we would hitherto not have known were coming up at auction. Hence the final figure for the Kelly?
Welcome IA. Delighted you can drop by. As you note, internet auctions make finding a "sleeper" much much harder, but I thought this was one such contender; they do lurk from time to time, and that's the key, (and the joy when one has success).
So sad to hear of your friend's passing; but how beautiful and poignant that you reconnected in that brief time and have a legacy of shared artistic memories to treasure always.
It was nice that we parted on a friendly basis, as we had once been very close.
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