“Sotheby’s modern evening sale fetched $186.4 million on May 13th. The sale’s most highly anticipated lot—Alberto Giacometti’s Grande tête mince (1955), estimated in excess of $70 million—failed to attract a buyer.”
“The world is burning, people are barely holding on — and millionaires are betting on dead pieces of canvas. Yes, I said it: a piece of canvas. Because art is meant to live, to breathe, to move us — not to be traded like stock or hoarded like trophies. But in their hands, it’s just a price tag. And that’s the tragedy!”
— User comment on Sotheby’s Art Auction Sale Falls
Bischoff, who in 1976 told Paul Karlstrom: “I’m still supporting myself by teaching,” had only two one man shows before his first New York show at Staempfli Gallery in 1960, including a 1955 show at the Paul Kantor Gallery in Los Angeles from which nothing sold. In contrast, leading artists in New York benefitted from a booming art market. For example, Willem de Kooning’s 1959 New York show sold out on the first day, bringing in about $150,000 (about $1.2 million dollars today, when adjusted for inflation).
Of course, de Kooning was a sensation, but many other New York artists sold well while California artists struggled. In this situation, decently paying teaching jobs were a rare and precious commodity. When it was rumored in 1955 that David Park had been offered $10,000 per year to teach at UC Berkeley, artist Nathan Oliveira – who at the time was earning $2.50 per hour teaching art 18 hours per week – thought that Park had been given “the opportunity of a lifetime.” As it turns out, Park’s actual starting annual salary was $5,300.00.
Elmer Bischoff Orange Sweater 1955 Oil on canvas 48 ½ in. x 57 in. SFMoMA collections
“I write about my own work because I want to speak for myself. I might not be the only authority, nor the best authority, but I want to participate in the writing of my own history. Why should artists be validated by outside authorities. I don’t like being paternalised and colonised by every Tom, Dick or Harry that comes along (male or female).”
