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June 1, 1990
Dear Mr. Leppala: Thank you for your interesting letter of May 25th and for the photos and comic books. I am astonished to learn that BELLES OF THE KLONDIKE has traveled all the way to Finland and that it has commanded such a respectable price as $65,000 (U.S.). My records show that I painted and sold the subject in 1978 to a collector named Terry Taylor for $600. I hope he got a substantial part of that huge increase in price. It was the patronage of venturesome buyers like him that kept me going in those lean years. As for the copyright notice on the back of the painting, it is intended to stop people from reproducing the subject in such ways as posters or multiple prints for individual sales. I have no ob- jection to its use as part of a magazine or newspaper article. I would only object if Roope-Seta printed it as a "tip-in" on glossy paper that could be lifted from the magazine whole. You ask how many non-Disney subjects I have painted. My record books show that I dashed off about 67, of which 53 are small 8x10 inch comic watercolors. The others are 14x18 inch and 16x20 inch oils. I did a few small landscape paintings in the 1950s and 1960s that I do not count. I want to thank collectors like yourself for bidding up the prices of my older paintings to such respectable levels. You in- spire new buyers to pay good prices for my new paintings. I only regret that I am now so old and slow I can barely paint two subjects a year. Sincerely Carl Barks |
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