Last week I heard the funniest story that I just have to blog. (Names have been omitted to protect the guilty.) A reputable dealer in Chicago told me that he sold a painting to a blind man. The blind man is a collector who had bought art from him for many years. He would typically ask the dealer to find him one sort of work of art or another, and the dealer always obliged. Later in life he lost his vision. No matter, one day he approached the dealer and asked for a Dufy painting. The dealer found a nice small one and presented it to the blind man. The blind man asks, “Tell me, is it nice?” The dealer goes, “Yes, it’s the nicest one I’ve ever seen.” The blind man, “I’ll take it!”
Now that’s selling! I just want to know one thing: does the collecting instinct follow you even beyond the grave? -Kobi
I saw the blind sale story with the name still in it. I do not mind. The only thing I would change, and don’t get me wrong, I can be as coarse and gross as anyone, I might not refer to the whole thing as being simply funny. It is funny, but also touching. I honestly felt I was doing this man a good turn by selling him the picture even though he could only make out the colors. He had been an astute collector with two good eyes for at least 50 of his eighty years. He had always wanted a Jean Dufy, and had told me specifically to find him one. I bought a great looking one at auction two months after he had charged me with that mission. When I called to ask if I could bring it over, he said he had ben sick, but I should bring it over. It was leukemia, and he had gone 90% blind a month before.
I came in and he asked to see the Dufy, and I handed it to him, and his pale, unfocused eyes went back and forth across the painting. Another man could have been miserable to finally possess a painting by an artist that he had always coveted, yet that he could no longer see. But he was happy! I think art is like sex, in a way, in that the brain is at least as important as the eyes or that other organ involved in the enjoyment process. His voice sounded happy, and a true collector gets satisfaction from ownership apart from the pure visual sensation. All in all, the whole thing was rather sweet. My wife thought I was heartless, but I know better. I do love to brag that I sold a painting to a blind man! -Peter B.
Actually, that was such an eloquent, heartfelt, and touching response that I’m going to blog its ass in its entirety! Glad to know you (if only virtually), -Kobi