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Before I disappear again, I want to tell you a story that didn't make it into this piece--as story about Walter Gruen, the afterlife of art, and the Mexican court system. As a bonus I'll show you all the paintings I mention in the essay,https://maifeminism.com/a-woman-sits-at-a-table/ …
So, in the essay I say Walter Gruen was Remedios Varo's husband. This was true in almost every sense that matters, and most art critics refer to him that way. However, Varo had been married twice before. (Remedios Varo, Disturbing Presence)pic.twitter.com/q2f7srWXnu
You may remember some of my earlier tweets about the difficulty of divorce in many countries until shockingly recent times. And in fact, Varo was never technically divorced. (Remedios Varo, Encounter)pic.twitter.com/fUaQcSekWd
Gruen was bought back 39 of Varo's paintings to create a museum collection. He went to the Mexican court to establish himself legally as Varo's common law husband in order to retain copyright, but the Mexican court ruled this would make Varo a bigamist. (Remedios Varo, Harmony)pic.twitter.com/WTa7juica9
The Mexican government then sued Gruen for the paintings, forcing a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor to prove in court that he had bought, not inherited the paintings. (Remedios Varo, Portrait of Walter Gruen)pic.twitter.com/FMiCtMNWkz
In court after court, the elderly Gruen produced proof--checks he had written, letters, the will of a friend who gave Varo's paintings back to Gruen. All were rejected. The paintings were, by this time, valued at over 15 million dollars. They're worth far more now.
But, the government lawsuit backfired. Having removed Gruen as next of kin, they now had to make sure there was no other next of kin. Enter stage right: Remedios Varo's niece, still alive and well in Spain, and happy to file for ownership of the paintings. (Varo, Papilla Estelar)pic.twitter.com/j5aUqyqdWG
Gruen had given up trying to retain the copyright and wanted only to be assured that the collection would remain intact under the ownership of Mexico City's Museo del Arte Moderno. The niece, for her part, was happy to sell "her" paintings to the Mexican government.
"I have great respect for the Mexican legal system," Varo's niece is quoted as saying in every article I have read about this fight. (Remedios Varo, Sympathy)pic.twitter.com/iJfAoGGP3E
And there the trail goes cold, my friends. The most recent article I could find in English was from 2006. I can only guess that arrangements were made with the niece, because the paintings have remained at MAM. But, there still seems to be some stickiness around the copyright.
I hope this story helps you see why I'm so fond of Gruen. Not only did he continue to champion Varo after her death, he was still fighting for her at 91! (Remedios Varo, Unexpected Visit)pic.twitter.com/9DvOJ6Cql4
The afterlives of artists, especially women artists, are tricky. If no one is there to place their work in institutions where they can be seen by the public and visited by scholars, they are forgotten all too quickly. It happens all the damn time.
By buying back Varo's paintings and fighting to keep them together in a public institution, Gruen made sure they would not vanish into private homes and auction houses and vastly increased Varo's chances of remaining in art history. FIN 
(Remedios Varo, Creation of the Birds)pic.twitter.com/GWYbYZNJFp
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