Blog
Posted on 9/17/2009
By Donald Fox
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Early in my career as an artist, probably even before I knew that I had a career, I did not keep good records, and I did not document every painting. Arguably, many paintings created in those days were not worth documentation, but some were, and those are the ones I refer to as lost paintings. A few were purchased, and any record of who bought them or where they went has long since been misplaced. Several were actually stolen and never recovered. I did not make photographs of any of these pictures and only have fading memories of them. Several were landscapes. One I remember I painted of my back yard where I lived in Greensboro while in graduate school. This 36” x 24” oil painting would have been painted around 1974. I still have a few smaller pieces done about the same time, so I at least have a pretty good idea of the look of it. I loaned it to a friend after I moved to Houston in 1977. She taught school in Baytown and took the painting there – unfortunately, it was stolen from her classroom one weekend.
Another painting I remember fairly well was an experimental landscape, light tans and pale blues done with bold strokes of color, also an oil on canvas but only 16” x 12” or thereabouts. Clement Greenberg juried it into a show at the Jewish Community Center in Houston. I was proud that he liked the painting, but it, too, was taken right off the wall of the Center. At least JCC paid me for the piece (less commission as though it had been sold). Still I missed that painting for a very long time. I’ve even thought I’d run across it some day in someone’s home or office. I’d love to hear the story behind how they acquired it.
A third work, a small oil on paper of a single metal half quart pot – sort of a tribute to a certain California artist – was foolishly loaned to a woman I dated for awhile. We broke up, and I never heard from her again. She also had my copy of the Abrams edition of Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings. That painting had one a prize in a national contest that was held in Nashville, Tennessee. I still do have a congratulatory letter from a Tennessee Senator. At least now I know enough to photograph as many works as possible. Digital images make this much easier.
