Will Finnerty's art now become more popular?

Kevin Finnerty's artwork is spread out in nearly a dozen art galleries across Chicago and the suburbs, with three locations having as many as 15 pieces each.

Some he left on consignment with gallery owners; others he sold to them outright.

The artist's violent death has some in the art world wondering if the value of his art collection that he so passionately promoted might change. And some who have Finnerty's pieces say they'll donate any proceeds from sales to the artist's two surviving children.

Finnerty, his wife, Patricia, and their 11-year-old son Garrett died June 2 at their Arlington Heights home in a fire that police say Kevin Finnerty set after a fight with his wife. They say he left a suicide note. Two of the Finnertys' children survived the fire. Bridgit, 12, and Pierce, 6, are living with Trish's sister, and a trust fund has been established to take donations. Fundraisers also are being organized.

"My guess is that interest will be heightened, but you just don't know," said Jill Petillo, of Prints Unlimited Galleries in Chicago, said of Finnerty's work.

Between its two locations, Prints Unlimited has 10 pieces of Finnerty's work. Most are giclees, and of those only three are framed. Giclees are a French technique for making high-definition reprints of original paintings and stretching them across rag board canvas, giving them more of a photography look. Petillo says their price range, $100-$500, is unchanged from before Finnerty's death.

One of Petillo's colleagues, Chicago ArtSource Gallery owner Jay Goltz, doubts that Finnerty's death might drive up the value of his works.

"If he was Picasso, maybe," Goltz said from his gallery at 1871 N. Clybourn Ave. "If people weren't buying them before, they're not buying them now."

Goltz has 16 Chicago scenes by Finnerty, all giclees, ranging from $100 to $500.

"We have them on consignment, so if anyone wants to buy them, we'll donate all of the money back to the family," Goltz says. "We want to put a positive spin on this."

Dan Bondi, of Prints Unlimited Galleries in Chicago, carries Kevin Finnerty's works in his two galleries, at 1407 N. Wells St. and 1461 W. Fullerton Ave. The latter has three of Finnerty's framed giclees for sale featuring gardens in the foreground with the Chicago skyline in back. A smaller one sells for $250, while the two larger ones, about 3 x 4 feet, sell for $375.

"They're very pleasing, with lots of colors and brightness," Bondi says. "They're a summer day in Chicago."

Bondi said that on one hand, "you won't be able to get any more of them, so that may add to their value.

"But at the same time, people may be haunted by the image."

Another gallery that represented Finnerty was Corporate Artworks and Health Environment Art Services, at 76 W. Seegers Road in Arlington Heights.

Consultant Denise Rippinger negotiates to place artists' work at hospitals and health care facilities all over the country. She estimates they have nearly 20 of Finnerty's pieces, mostly giclees, which run $200 to $400, and photographs he took of Busse Woods wildflowers.

She doesn't believe he was established well enough that his death will draw attention to his work. However, she added, people might think about buying one to help the remaining children.

"Legally, they're not ours, so we have no intention of wanting to sell them and make money off of them," Rippinger says. "We'd be happy to frame them up and make them sellable, in order to raise money for his children."

She said Finnerty dropped in frequently, in a "proactive" attempt to move his work.

Lisa Bournstein-Smalley, gallery director at Chicago ArtSource, also said Finnerty came by often to leave more of his work. He did so many giclees, she thinks he may have saturated the market.

"They sold well in the '80s and '90s, but as people's tastes became more sophisticated," she added, "we didn't sell very many."

Last year, they returned most of his pieces to him, she added.

One of Finnerty's original watercolor paintings of Wrigley Field, done in pastels on rag board canvas, remains on display at Tuscan Market & Wine Shop, at 141 W. Wing St. in Arlington Heights.

As an original and not a print, it sells for $3,200, which was the going rate for one of Finnerty's framed pieces.

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