It is an interesting quirk of literary history that April 23rd is celebrated not only as the day that William Shakespeare was born (in 1564) but also the day he died (in 1616). I note this mainly because we’ve just heard that Shakespeare in the Park, the decades-old summertime festival at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, has been cancelled for 2020.
The art world had its own jolts and losses in the past week. Among these was the passing of photographer Peter Beard at age 82.
Beard’s life had a stunning theatricality to it, with much gaiety and drama played out on a grand stage. He was like a character out of a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Born to great wealth and privilege, he attended Yale and soon launched into a lifelong party of excesses chronicled in the tabloids and the tonier publications like Town & Country and Vanity Fair. There were near-death experiences in Kenya while photographing wildlife; affairs and divorces and years of alcohol abuse; a devastating fire in his studio in the 1970s that destroyed twenty years of work. At the end, suffering from dementia, he wandered alone into the woods near home and was gone.
Peter Beard was known for giving away his photographs. Some went to pay off drinking debts. Others were tokens of friendship or gratitude. Either way, in recent years Beard’s wife and manager had made efforts to reclaim these items, stirring much acrimony. And now that Beard is dead, his estate will be left with the formidable task of addressing the value and disposition of Beard’s substantial studio inventory.
And it is a fantastic one, for Peter Beard’s work was unique and wildly creative. There are black-and-white photographs of African bush scenes, hand-colored and inscribed around the edges by Beard; and there are his countless and fantastic illustrated diaries, created on a daily basis throughout his life.
The estates of prominent artists have become big business in today’s art market. Foundations in their name are established, catalogues prepared, gifts made, exhibitions mounted—all part of an orchestrated branding of an artist’s name to ensure long-term value. The same will be true of Peter Beard’s estate.
As for William Shakespeare, we raise a birthday toast and hope to see his plays performing again soon.