Dead Artists' Work Brought to Life in Brooklyn Cemetery

Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery has been carving out quite a niche for itself by investing in its collection of art once created by some of the 220 artists who are buried there. In a feature in today's Times, the cemetery's historian Jeffrey Richman says that it is because “none of the nation’s other historic cemeteries have substantial systematic collections of deceased artists.” They also note nice touches like the cemetery's discovery and acquisition of a painting of DeWitt Clinton by George Catlin (both buried there). Green-Wood has invested more than $250,000 into its collection and has been abetted by a rough stretch for the art market. Its president Richard Moylan said, “The economic downturn is horrible, but it has made a lot of art more affordable.” And if the economy starts getting really really bad, maybe Green-Wood will even be able to afford paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Samuel Morse, both buried there but whose works are out of its budget.