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PARTISAN REVIEW
ca re about the content. I think tha t Ivan Karp was quite invo lved
with the content too, and so Iva n would express hi s enthusiasm
about tha t particul ar group and I about the o ther. Now, perhaps it 's
not true a t all , but I think wha t I felt about tha t pa rti cul ar group had
a certain influence on Roy, and he perhaps, little by littl e, or very
soon , abandoned the funn y content, in the pa intin gs.
From the audience:
May I as k the same ques tion o f Roy Li ch ten stein ?
Do you think tha t Mr. Cas telli has influen ced you r work?
Castell i:
Maybe I'm entirely wrong there.
L ichtenstein:
Yes. But whil e anything mi ght have some subliminal
influence, there are so man y influences tha t the result is un p red ic–
table. The arti st's major direction is stronger than a ll of thi s. T here
might be strong pressure to rema in the same if you are successful and
a t the same time there is pressure to change. There is no way to know
if you are responding to pressure or fo ll ow ing your own course.
From the audience:
When you were speaking before of p ri ce.
It
bro ugh t to mind something tha t I h ad read ; some of your peers were
ta lking about setting a basic price for resales, fo r future sales. I was
wondering how you personall y feel about tha t-in fairness to the
buyer as well as the arti st.
Diamonstein:
I think wha t's bein g asked here is a cen tral questi on,
regarding artist's ri ghts. An artist sell s a p icture a t X do ll a rs, and the
co ll ector then resell s it a t 3-X doll a rs, or 100-X do ll ars. How much of
tha t should belong to the arti st, and wha t is your a ttitude about those
new contracts tha t were bein g entered into by some muni cipa lities,
the City o f Sea ttl e, for exampl e.
L ichtenstein:
I don 't know. I'm not terribl y enthusiasti c about it. I
don 't think it will work and I think it o bscures far more important
legisla ti on . I think the artist should di scourage ra ther than pa rti ci–
pa te in the resa le of hi s wo rk . Sellin g an artwork is mo re like sellin g
a ho use th an selling sheet music. Yo u don 't send a percen tage o f the
p ro fit from selling a house back to the architect o r builder. T he bill
also seems to benefit the arti sts who leas t need it. T here are a lso
transactio ns such as one scul p ture being exchanged fo r three draw–
ings and some cash . I think these things a re too complica ted to
control.
Diamonstein:
Well , let me cite a specific instance. There's a legendary
story about a Johns painting tha t Leo Cas telli owns. He bought it
when no one else wanted it-tha t a t least is the way I have been given
to understand the story-for twelve hundred doll ars. Abou t a year or
so ago , that very same pi cture tha t he paid twelve hundred do lla rs
