I’m kind of shaky as I type this because this is, for me at least, an epic decision and commitment: My family has decided it’s time to sell Dad’s K2 paintings – the two highest watercolors ever painted (at 25,000′ on K2), and the eight watercolors Dad painted as his team made their way up the mountain.
Some background on the paintings:
Our father, Dee Molenaar, was a member of the 1953 mountaineering expedition to K2 – a team of climbers put together in hopes of making the first ascent of K2.
The climb did not go as hoped. The team found themselves caught in a snowstorm at 25,000 feet. During the 10 days the climbers were trapped in their tents at their high camp, our father painted two paintings of K2 from memory. Because water was so precious up there, his teammates made him drink the watercolor water once he was done painting. Dad was always kind of proud that he drank that water.
During the storm, one of their members, Art Gilkey, became dangerously ill with blood clots in his lungs. His teammates realized if they didn’t get him down to a lower elevation he would die. They also realized there was a good chance they would die trying to get their teammate down the icy slopes of K2 – but they knew they had to try to save their friend’s life.
As they were lowering Art Gilkey down the mountain, one of the climbers slipped, three ropes tangled, and five of the men – our father amongst them – found themselves hurtling towards a cliff with no way to stop themselves. Fortunately, one of the men, Pete Schoening – the youngest and strongest member of the team – devised a belay that saved their lives. That belay has come to be known as “The Belay” in the annals of mountaineering history.
The men left Art secured to the slope while they went to their tents to recover, but when they came back to where they’d left their friend, Art was gone. It was like the slope had been swept clean. It appeared an avalanche had swept their friend down the mountain.
The rest of the team was eventually able to make it back to civilization – and so were our father’s paintings.
The team didn’t make it to the summit of K2, but the team is remembered for their extraordinary heroism on their attempt. From an article titled “The Mountain of Mountains” in Outside Magazine (November 1, 2003): “I have great respect for the Italians who summited K2 for the first time in 1954,” says Reinhold Messner, “but even greater respect for the Americans and the way they failed in 1953. They were decent. They were strong. And they failed in the most beautiful way you can imagine. This is inspiration for a lifetime.”
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What’s led us to make this decision now?
1) I ain’t getting any younger, and, as the executor for Dad’s will, I’d like to see this taken care of before I croak.
2) Dad lived to be 101, and, by the time he passed, there wasn’t much left to pass on to his four grandchildren. We think Pop would have wanted us to sell his paintings to be able to pass on something to the youngsters.
3) There have recently been some of Dad’s paintings put on sale, purported to have been painted on K2, that were NOT painted on K2. We’re thinking it’s time to put the ACTUAL K2 paintings out there.
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Setting a price for these paintings has been the most challenging part of this process for us. To our family the paintings are, of course, priceless. And there’s no precedent, you know? This is a one-of-a-kind sale – these paintings, and the circumstances behind them, can’t be replicated. It’s the history behind them that gives them their value.
We hope to find a buyer that recognizes their value, and is able to pay for it. (We’re in dialogue with a mountaineering organization that might help us auction it off in a couple months.)
Spread the word.
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