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Thursday, April 5, 2007 12:00 AM

My walls are covered with my mother's paintings

My mom left all her artwork to me, but it's not really my aesthetic. Would I be a terrible daughter if I took them down?

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  • Wednesday, April 4, 2007 10:01 PM

    A family of artists

    I understand the whole situation. My grandmother was a painter. My grandfather, a woodcarver. They left a huge number of paintings and carvings to the family, but thankfully they were all left communally and we simply picked and chose among ourselves and put them up where we wanted. Having the entire gallery, however, would make me feel like I was in their living room, not mine.

    What you have are heirlooms. Pick the ones you like best and pick a number which you think your daughter would likewise like and appreciate, then spread the rest throughout your family and your mother's friends. When your mother left you he paintings, she likely meant you not to be the permanent currator of all of them (no one lives forever) but rather her artistic executor, the one who decides what happens to her work.

    My mother has one painting by her great-great grandfather. It's very old and quite nicely done, but it's the only one we have by him. Your daughter will likely have children one day and so on and so on. Keep enough that all your grandchildren will have something to remember their great grandmother.

    And paintings store flat very well. All you need to keep the ones that aren't on display is a chest or cabinet or even the back of a closet.

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