A few years ago, at the urging of a now departed dear friend, I painted a portrait of screen legend Marilyn Monroe. When the work was completed, I found myself quite pleased with the outcome and placed the work in the window of the art gallery that I was operating at that time in Lewes, Delaware.
Shortly before I placed the painting in the window however, I had met a hard working, entrepreneurial young man by the name of Cliff Patterson who owned his own window washing company. He not only washed the windows of several of the shops where my gallery was located, but he also washed the windows for my friend who had urged me to create the work in the first place. My friend had several of my works in his own collection. I later discovered that Cliff had seen some of my works at my friend’s home and became determined to own an original Sprouse for himself one day.
Then he saw “Marilyn”. That was the work that he felt that he must have. He approached me about the purchase, we worked out the details, and lo and behold, Cliff Patterson became the new owner of my painting.
Shortly after the purchase, I was contacted by author and publisher Roger G. Taylor. He had seen my painting on my website and thought it would be the perfect addition to his new book, “Marilyn in Art”.
Taylor’s previous fine art books had become quite collectible and I was flattered to be included in the publication and agreed to such. Thus, my “Marilyn” painting became the first of my works to be published in an internationally printed book.
This of course mad Cliff even more pleased with his purchase.
Shortly after that, the publishing company that was producing prints of my work at the time decided to run prints of “Marilyn”. It became quite successful, and even though I no longer have a professional relationship with that publishing company today, prints of the work can still be located around the U.S. today and sale anywhere from between 400 to 700 dollars, as seen in this example from www.InsideAvenue.com. 
Unfortunately, Cliff has recently received some bad new. His mother was just diagnosed with Lupus and shortly thereafter his father was laid off from his job thusly losing their health coverage. Admirably, Cliff has now decided to sale his beloved painting in order to help his parents through this financially difficult transition. Cliff is a good man with obligations of his own. I understand his situation and his heartfelt desire to help his parents in any way possible and I respect his decision tremendously. Not being familiar with the nuances of the fine art market, Cliff asked for my assistance in letting his decision be known. I agreed and it is within that spirit that I am sending this message to you now.
Let me be perfectly clear that I will receive nothing from the sale of this work. The details will be strictly between Cliff and the purchaser. I am simply the messenger of the news.
The initial price of this work was $2,000. Based upon the history of the work (inclusion in “Marilyn In Art” as well as being the original work from which very popular prints were made), the current increase in the price of my original works based upon gallery sales over the last 5 years, and, or course, the situation with his parents, Cliff is seeking to make at least $5,000 from the sale of the work.
Again, I have nothing to do this transaction and have not seen the work since it entered into Cliff’s collection. Cliff thought it best to avoid offering the work through a gallery or auction house being that he needs to keep as much of the proceeds as possible to help his parents with their health and living expenses. Traditionally, galleries and auction houses would retain a percentage of the proceeds.
Cliff has requested that I include his email address in this message. If you are interested in owning this rare work which, will only increase in value beyond what it already has, and would like to help someone though a difficult situation. Then, please feel free to contact Cliff at outshineinc@gmail.com
Thank you for your time,
Michael Sprouse
www.SPROUSEART.com
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