Appraised Value

Finally got the appraised value of the Carter nudes from Franklin, in NYC, he pegs them at around a thousand dollars each; and the catfish drawing at $650, which, if the museum wants to sell, I'd buy. It could still be in the show, which I'd call "13 Nudes And A Catfish". An intimate show, for a small gallery, but dynamite in terms of impact. The nudes are fantastic and the catfish is over the top. What the line captures. I keep going back to those last nudes Modigliani painted, the genius of line. That "Reclining Nude" from 1917, at the Met, is maybe the greatest painting ever. I have a reproduction thumb-tacked to the wall, I look at it 8 or 10 times a day, some nights I sleep with her. Adrian, the Director himself, a Brit running an American Folk Art Museum, drove up to get the show, with a young helper, thank god, and we had them loaded and back on the road by noon. Lunch, then started cleaning the place, which resembled the scene of a young war. My feet hurt and I finally stopped working about four and sat down for the first time. D will be pissed when he finds out we have to take down the wall panels, because they'll probably have to go right back up, ditto the pedestals, which I stashed in the theater. We have to put all the bonnets away. I haven't stripped hardware, and I might not have a chance. I think it looks pretty cool. I'll have worked 13 straight days when I get next Monday off, and, as it happens, Kim will be here that afternoon and night, on his way to an F1 race in Canada. I told John Hogan a bit about him, that he'd be bringing his guitar, and John said to bring him and his guitar over to the pub. That'll be up to Kim, the guitar part, but we'll probably go over anyway, for a draft and a shot of Irish, get Sara and Clay to join us, Sara met Kim when we were installing the Wrack show. She'll remember him as the guy that, literally, tied everything together. He remembered how to lash, and none of the rest of us did. I took Libby, at the pub, a large bag of bubble wrap scraps, she loves popping the bubbles, I think she rolls on them, but I don't want to fantasize. And she always gives me a fantastic smile, when I give her a bag. Like she knows the value of things. Tom, and bubble-wrap.