Flourish Posthumously; Creatives You Will Want To Love Forever

Many creators we love and admire, those held up as leaders and heroes in their field, were not lucky enough to find success whilst alive. Across various fields, they achieved little or no recognition during their lifetimes. Only for their work to flourish posthumously, often resulting from dedicated advocates (family, friends, or later critics) who champion their work, a shift in cultural perspective, or the release of previously unpublished material. 

Johannes Vermeer 1632- 1675

Girl with a Pearl Earring, circa 1665

This Dutch Baroque painter of Girl with a Pearl Earring was only moderately successful locally and left his family in debt when he died in 1675. His work faded into obscurity for nearly two centuries until its rediscovery and critical reappraisal in the mid-19th century. Of course, he then became a household name when the film The Girl with the Pearl Earring became a Hollywood film success.

Vincent van Gogh. 1853 – 1890

Self-portrait with bandaged ear and pipe, 1889

Arguably the most famous example, this Dutch Post-Impressionist painter sold only one painting in his lifetime. His extensive body of work, including iconic pieces like The Starry Night and the Sunflower series, became astoundingly popular in the decades after his suicide in 1890, largely due to the efforts of his brother Theo’s widow, Jo van Gogh-Bonger. Also within the same period, Post-Impressionist painters such as Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were largely also unappreciated during their lives, often met with critical scorn or dismissal. Their unique styles profoundly influenced later movements like Cubism and became immensely valuable after their deaths.

Vivian Maier  1926 – 2009

A reclusive nanny in Chicago, Maier was a passionate street photographer who secretly amassed over 100,000 negatives. Her vast and significant body of work was discovered in a storage locker auction after she became destitute, and her stunning photographs went viral online after she died in 2009, making her one of the most celebrated street photographers in the world. 

Of course, it wasn’t just painters; there are many writers in this category, too.

Franz Kafka 1883 – 1924

The Bohemian writer, now considered one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century, published very little during his lifetime. He instructed his friend and literary executor Max Brod to burn all of his unpublished manuscripts, including novels The Trial and The Castle. Brod ignored his wishes, and their publication posthumously established Kafka’s enduring legacy; the term “Kafkaesque” is now not only in the dictionary but also in common parlance.

Emily Dickinson  1830 – 1886

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. Only a handful of Dickinson’s nearly 1,800 poems were published during her life, often heavily altered by publishers to fit conventional tastes. Her immense collection of poetry was discovered by her sister Lavinia after her death in 1886, leading to a series of publications that cemented her status as one of America’s greatest poets.

Herman Melville 1819 – 1891

An American writer, among his best-known works are Moby-Dick,  Typee, and Billy Budd, Sailor, a posthumously published novella. At the time of his death, Melville was not well known to the public. While his early adventure novels were popular, his masterpiece, Moby Dick, was a critical and commercial failure during his lifetime and was long out of print when he died, forgotten, in 1891. A “Melville Revival” in the 1920s led to a radical reassessment of his work, and it is now considered a defining American novel.

John Kennedy Toole 1937 – 1969

An American novelist from New Orleans, Louisiana, whose posthumously published novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981.

Tormented by repeated rejections of his manuscript, A Confederacy of Dunces, Toole committed suicide in 1969. His mother tirelessly sought its publication, and it was finally published in 1980, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year.

Stieg Larsson 1954 – 2004

The Swedish journalist died suddenly of a heart attack in 2004, having just submitted the manuscripts for his Millennium series, which includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He never lived to see his books become global bestsellers, selling over 100 million copies worldwide. Larsson had originally planned a series of 10 books and had completed two and most of a third when he began looking for publishers. At the time of his death in 2004, only three had been completed, and although accepted for publication, none had yet been printed. These were published posthumously as the Millennium series.

And then, finally, one of many musicians.

Eva Cassidy 1963 – 1996

Cassidy was born in Washington, and from an early age, she displayed an interest in art and music. When she was nine, her father began teaching her to play the guitar, and she played and sang at family gatherings. By 11, she had begun singing and playing guitar in a Washington-area band called Easy Street and by high school was singing with a local band called Stonehenge. This talented singer with a captivating soprano voice achieved only regional success around Washington D.C. before dying of melanoma in 1996. After her death, British radio producers began playing her covers of “Over the Rainbow” and “Fields of Gold,” leading to posthumous albums selling millions of copies and topping charts globally. 

If you enjoyed reading Flourish Posthumously: Creatives You Will Want To Love Forever, then why not read A Spiritual Walk here

.Cent Magazine, London. Luxury Mindset