artifacts from the estate of X

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About artifacts from the estate of X

A while back -- I don't want to say exactly when it was, or where -- I was invited to attend an exclusive, even secretive estate sale. Who invited me I'm not 100 percent sure; it was all very hush-hush, like the nominating process for the MacArthur Fellowship. Also, we all signed non-disclosure agreements, which is why I can't mention any names.

At this event, the contents of an atelier were sold off -- the atelier of an obscure but important (to certain circles) individual I'll call X.

These artifacts didn't go for a lot of money; as I've mentioned, X was not famous, though you may well have heard this person's name before. I bought one object, which I treasure, but I was sorry to see the collection dissolve. Assembled, the collection seemed to illustrate and articulate a crucial worldview; I could have brooded over them forever.

Recently, I acquired a list of names and email addresses -- naturally, I can't say how. Everyone who purchased one or more artifacts at the above-mentioned auction is included. Alas, much as I'd love to buy back every object myself, in order to recreate the collection, I can't afford to do so -- nor can I think of any museum that would help out.

However, I decided that it couldn't hurt to get in touch with each person on the list, and invite him or her to upload a photo of the object they purchased at auction to this Flickr group. If my project works out, it will be the next best thing to gathering the artifacts in one place again.