Visit Gustave Moreau’s atelier and become suspicious of certain unproductive emerging artists

 

In a couple of months the refurbishing of the charming Musée national Gustave Moreau in Paris, 14 rue de La Rochefoucauld, will be completed. All the six rooms of the artist’s apartment at the first floor will be open to the public (now only three of them are accessible) and a new 176 square meters underground space will allow to preserve and study a body of 10.000 drawings and 3.000 photographs and etchings from Moreau’s personal archive. Also the garden will be re-designed according to its original version, while the two dramatic spaces hosting the artist’s atelier will be preserved in their traditional setting.

 

Nevertheless, if you are already familiar with the artist’s work and you have recognized the key role that his faith in abstraction played during the second half of the XIX century – driven by Huysman’s “À Rebours”, or by the many other artists and scholars who have written about him – this is not why we recommend to visit this place again. In fact the real reason is another.

 

A few days ago we were discussing with a contemporary art collector about the fact that producing too many pieces may be dangerous for an artist, especially if he is an emerging one. With regards to certain names – Sam Falls, David Ostrowski, and some of the Still House members among them – he was concerned that the market is already exhausted and their prices will hardly soar until any significant institution will “certificate” their artistic value by exhibiting, and collecting them. For this reason this collector is now turning his attention to certain undervalued contemporary masters that, according to their curriculum vitae, the marked will soon have to prize. In other words, when you run the risk to pay the “future” too much, then keep your feet on a stable ground.

 

That is certainly a very fair point, yet an objection can be raised. Gustave Moreau produced more than 8000 paintings and an enormous numbers of drawings. Pieces may differ in quality and dimensions, but the art history has recognized him. Furthermore, his market is stable, not speculative at all at the moment, and his home museum is among the best instructive and inspiring visits that any art professional should do in his career. Like the cultural value of other highly productive artists such as Pablo Picasso (who produced more than 60.000 artworks in his career) or Henry Matisse, also Moreau’s value is endlessly protected by its huge production. To win the Wimbledon tournament once may prove that you are a talented and lucky tennis player, but you ought to win it many times to call yourself a champion.

 

Moreover, if rarity is an element that influences any market, it is also to be said that it’s dangerous when it is used as a marketing device, especially when dealing with artworks. It would be a capital sin to think that the artistic value of Leonardo Da Vinci depends upon the small number of canvases he painted, as well as to consider Turner a blockbuster artist. On the other side, we do see many artists and dealers who are actually using rarity as a marketing device. Good artists could be either or not productive, but great artists, in any epoch and in any kind of art (music, literature, cinema) are those who are able to produce a considerable number of high quality artworks. It is indeed when high quantity meets extremely high quality that the few masterpieces become priceless. Mr. Andy Warhol docet.

 

November 20, 2014