Story (probably NPR) about team looking through artist's papers (century, paint, work)

[clarksvillemom]

Hi, I heard a story a while back about an artist who left tons of stuff, boxes of stuff to some foundation and the foundation or musuem had a full-time intern staff carefully going through each thing, cataloging, etc. I'm thinking it was someone like Warhol, or Pollack - definitely US-based and definitely this past century. Also male. Any help?

[banjomike]

I think you are referring to the son of a German art dealer who ended up with a literal ton of stolen art the father got from his dealings with the Nazis. The son knew what he had, and kept it carefully squirreled away for his entire life.

There are quite a few deceased artists who have left everything to colleges, the Smithsonian, or other institutions. Some artists are highly prolific and tend to hang on to their personal favorites, along with all the sketches and other preliminary work, while other artists don't keep all that stuff, and prefer to sell everything they create. Artists often carry several sketchbooks and/or journals with them and some keep all of them as reference sources. The amount of junk that collects can be huge, especially when an artist is known for major works like murals.

Warhol was a pack rat. He not only kept everything, he went out daily and bought stuff that caught his eye and kept all of that, too. He hung on to all his proofs from his silkscreened works, and would buy a warehouse when the one he already owned was filled up.
I'm pretty sure he's the one you're thinking of; there was a huge warehouse auction of Warhol's stuff a few years ago. There are others that are still crammed to the ceilings, but whether or not there will be other auctions will be up to his estate's controllers.

Pollack didn't leave much behind. His studio, an old converted chicken coop, is still intact and is just as he left it, full of old cans of automobile enamel, the paint he used in his dribble paintings, but he only kept a few of his earlier works, and his widow kept only a couple of his dribble paintings.

[clarksvillemom]

yes, thanks! I figured it was Warhol I was remembering. And right - he left hundreds of boxes to be looked through, some full of junk, others full of great stuff. I guess they are called his time capsules