Artwork
In the months following Gacy's execution many of his paintings were auctioned. A total of 19 were sold by autograph dealer Steve Koschal, who had commissioned many of them directly from Gacy. Selling prices ranged from $195 for an acrylic painting of a bird to $9,500 for a painting depicting cartoon characters resembling Disney's Seven Dwarfs playing baseball against the Chicago Cubs. The baseball painting had been autographed by numerous members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, though Koschel admitted that the signers had not been told the identity of the painter. Some were bought so that they could be destroyed: 25 paintings were burned in June, 1994 in Naperville, Illinois, at a communal bonfire attended by approximately 300 people, including family members of nine of Gacy's victims.
Exhibitions of Gacy's artwork have been held since the 1980s and continue to be held. Gacy dismissed criticism that he was permitted to keep money from the sale of his paintings, claiming his artwork was intended "to bring joy into people's lives".
In 2011 the Arts Factory Gallery in Las Vegas sold Gacy's self-portrait Goodbye Pogo ($4,500) and 73 other Gacy paintings, drawings and audio recordings to benefit various charitable organizations. The National Center for Victims of Crime, one of the named beneficiaries, demanded that the gallery cease using its name in connection with the sale.
Read more about this topic: John Wayne Gacy