On art and money
From a recent article in The Wall Street Journal;
“Starting Tuesday, the world’s chief auction houses—Sotheby’s, Christie’s and boutique house Phillips—will seek to sell at least $1.6 billion worth of art during a two-week series of sales, setting an expectation they haven’t met in the past three years.
The houses estimate at least 15 pieces will sell for over $20 million, including examples by Alberto Giacometti, Mark Rothko and Vincent van Gogh. Recent discoveries such as Reggie Burrows Hodges are also poised to fly to records. How to tell? Last month in London, Mr. Hodges’s auction debut, “For the Greater Good,” sold for $606,685—nearly 15 times its estimate.
‘People don’t care if they have to pay $1 million for a piece that’s priced to sell for $60,000,’ said Alex Rotter, chairman of Christie’s 20/21 art departments. ‘They’re making up their own rules.'”
People have too much money. I have framed prints of art on my apartment walls, including van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” But I paid not much more than $100 for any of them. Interestingly, the van Gogh portrait of a woman that is expected to be sold for a lot actually looks like something from a horror movie.
There was a play and movie a while back called Six Degrees of Separation about a very wealthy NYC couple involved in paintings who get involved with a young con man.