"A completely new approach—finally we hear from those who look after the paintings and sculptures after the artist dies. Wonderfully eloquent and personal, this book is important, valuable, and totally engrossing."—Flora Biddle, author of The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made and former president and chairman of the Whitney Museum of American Art

"Anyone interested in the art world and the protection of lasting values (in all senses) will be fascinated by this compilation of interviews, each of which is accompanied by a lively selection of photographs of the artist, the studio, and the heir or administrator. All sides of estate legacies issue surface here: studio situations, painting methods, tax issues, personal relations—you feel you know all the artists, freshly."—Mary Ann Caws, Distinguished Professor of English, French, and Comparative Literature, Graduate Center, CUNY

Artists' Estates offers a fascinating journey into the complex and competitive art world through the distinctive lens of those who deal with the paintings, prints, and sculpture that artists leave behind after their deaths. Bringing together interviews conducted by Magda Salvesen, the widow of the second-generation Abstract Expressionist painter Jon Schueler, this unique book provides a window into the goals and desires, the conflicts and frustrations, and the emotional and financial strains that confront widows, companions, sons, and daughters as the heirs to artists' estates. The judiciously arranged and edited interviews also address the benefits and liabilities of foundations and trusts through the insights of lawyers, gallery dealers, and foundation directors.

Readers will explore well-known estates, including those of Roy Lichtenstein, Mark Rothko, Adolph Gottlieb, Milton Avery, Romare Bearden, and David Smith, as well as the equally intriguing legacies of lesser-known artists whose work came to the fore in the forties and fifties.

Together, the passionate testimonies of families and lovers, the measured voices of art professionals, and the more than eighty photographs offer an indispensable entrée into the private and public worlds of art.