Families reach out to me regularly about what to do with an artist’s work after they’ve passed. It’s a conversation most artists avoid having, which leaves loved ones guessing about what matters and what doesn’t.
Alissa Quart didn’t have that luxury. When her 90-year-old mother Barbara Quart received a terminal diagnosis in March 2025, they had to act quickly.
Barbara had spent 30 years painting almost daily, creating works influenced by Richard Diebenkorn, Alice Neel, and Claude Monet. She’d never been part of the gallery system or an MFA program. She just followed her vision.
Alissa’s solution for rehoming 400 paintings was practical and radical. She started giving paintings away and selling them at accessible prices to people in her building, her mother’s neighbors in the Berkshires, even the person who cleaned out the house.
The goal was simple: place the art with people who would cherish it, in places where Alissa could still see her mother’s work.
Then she wrote about it in the New York Times and everything changed. Within days, she received over 300 requests to buy paintings. Art professors and professional painters reached out to say Barbara’s work was genuinely good.
At 90, Barbara finally got validation for all of her hard work.
But our conversation goes beyond one family’s story. We dig into what artists actually need to thrive. Barbara could paint for three decades because she had rent-controlled housing, an affordable studio nearby, and a community of artists who shaped her thinking. Those circumstances are nearly impossible to replicate today.
This conversation will shift how you think about legacy, community, and what it takes to sustain a creative practice over time.
Listen
Update from Alissa
With the crucial help of librarian Kira Smith, I have created a catalogue of her paintings, so that people who are interested in acquiring one can now do so. I am excited about this moment.
We have decided to charge from $500 to $1,200 for different pieces. (If you are economically struggling and can explain your situation to me, we can talk about pricing further.) One of my goals is to find appreciative homes.
The list has clickable links so that you can view each painting—just click on the link for “Image.” Once you have decided on a painting, please email me and we’ll send you the billing and estimated shipping info (it’s an easy process).
Have one honest conversation about your art with someone who might inherit it or help place it after you are no longer able to do so.
Alissa Quart Quotes
“Artists need to be in community to make really good work and to influence each other. And then they also need to do it for a long time… You need the worker ants not just the queen bees.”
“Some of the stigma of selling in community, not going through the gallery system, has to change.”
I’m trying to honor my mom, but at some point, I am feeling like, is this, is this necessary? Do I need to do this? … when do you stop building somebody’s legacy?”
“It’s not really only about the artist or the author, it’s about the world in which they are communicating.”
“Painting is the promise that our consciousness can persist beyond the hand that picked up the brush.”
Mentioned
The Slip by Prudence Pfifer
The Death of the Artist by William Deresiewicz
Peter Hastings Falk, art historian
Alissa’s article in the New York Times: “My Mother, the Artist, Discovered at 90”
About Alissa Quart
Alissa Quart is the author of five acclaimed books of nonfiction including her most recent, Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream. She also wrote two books of poetry has written for many publications including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and TIME.
Alissa is the Executive Director of the non-profit Economic Hardship Reporting Project. Her honors include an Emmy, an SPJ award and a Nieman fellowship. She lives with her family in Brooklyn.
Follow Alissa on Instagram: @alissaquart
And follow Barbara’s paintings: @barbaraquartpainter
