Random Memory #3

In August 2001 I was at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin. I was admiring an installation in the museum’s courtyard of human figures by the Spanish sculptor Juan Muñoz. An attendant noticed me and came out to chat. “The Spanish fella, Muñoz, it was on the radio this morning, he’s just dropped down dead. He was only 48. Of course the price of his stuff will skyrocket now he’s dead. See the fella in there? [He indicated an exhibition of abstract paintings by an Irish artist.] He’s 83 and still going strong. Stuff’s not worth a bean.”