How Starving Artists Like Brice Marden, Roy Lichtenstein and John Chamberlain Saved Max's

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN AND ROY LICHTENSTEIN SAVE MAX'S FROM BANKRUPTCY

After years of allowing it's starving artist patrons to buy food and drinks on credit Max's Kansas City was nearly bankrupt. In 1971, Mickey Ruskin appealed to his art celebrity clientele for help with his massive debt.

Painters like John Chamberlain and Roy Lichtenstein came to the rescue by auctioning their artwork to pay Mickey's debts. They eventually became part owners. This bold move on Ruskin's part was coined the "Chickpea Conspiracy."

In a sense, Max's is literally the house that art built...or at least saved.

STARVING ARTIST BRICE MARDEN AND HIS $3,000 DOLLAR TAB

Celebrated artist Brice Marden helped Mickey Ruskin by settling his $3k tab with his art. Brice Marden was one of the very few patrons who actually paid his debt at Max's.

In late 2006, after a fair amount of resistance on the part of the artist, Brice Marden was honored by the MoMA with a retrospective of his abstract paintings.

In this video, Charlie Rose speaks with Brice Marden about his life and complete body of work at the time when his work was on view at the MoMA.

AN APPEAL TO THE NEW YORK'S STARVING ARTISTS

Here is an actual stockholders letter written by Mickey Ruskin to artist Ronnie Landfield from 1971.

It details how Ruskin planned on allocating the money collected from the Chickpea Conspiracy auction, from carpeting to aluminum siding.

In addition to a free Max's shirt, stockholders were also offered free admission to music performances as well as dinner for two to effectively monitor their investment.

“MAX’S ACCORDING TO TAYLOR MEAD”

Taylor Mead was part of the Warhol crowd and was a regular at Max's. For the most part, Taylor Mead hung out in the infamous Back Room, but also bore witness to the many goings-on among the famous and about-to-be-famous artists who held court in Max's Front Room.

Did he really know the real truth behind Mickey Ruskin's financial woes?

This poem by Taylor Mead is a tribute to Ruskin and Max's:

ROY LICHTENSTEIN AND ROBERT RAUSCHENBERT HEADLINE MAX'S AUCTION

Mostly kept from the public eye, this is the Chickpea Conspiracy auction catalogue featuring art pieces from prominent artists including Andy Warhol, Sol LeWitt, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein.

One can only imagine the kind of cash Max's owner Mickey Ruskin needed to pacify the IRS and prevent Max's from closing its doors.

NEW YORK ARTISTS RESCUE A NEW YORK LANDMARK

Mickey Ruskin didn't build his notoriety by doing business with the small guys. Max's stockholders not only included the right people, they were the heaviest of the heavies.

Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and Willem De Kooning, to name just a few, offered up their work to help Max's get a fighting chance and prevent their favorite watering hole from going under.

It's not surprising that so many legends pitched it to help their friend Mickey out. After all, he had done the same for them years before when many of them were down and out. Max's free food were the only meal many of the artists would get and the booths at Max's were the only soft place they had to lie down. Mickey was there for artists when they needed him and they returned the favor during the Chickpea Conspiracy. Lou Reed would say years later that Mickey was "personally responsible for my survival for three years because he fed me every day."