‘The contemporary market has been subject to extreme speculation, but there is a difference between speculation and fraud.’ from some online mag
Doesn’t that say it all? There’s a thin red line somewhere dividing honest, reputable people in the field of art from the shysters and manipulators, but we don’t know where it is, and they’ve lost track themselves. It isn’t just about money, institutions form little duck ponds by damming up the steam, prestige and dollars passed out by cultural agencies like they were grading class projects. It’s social issues at the moment, the feckless sort of complaining permissible under state control. They’re calling it serious art, the only serious art, sponsoring exhibits, padding resumes.
On the speculation side, suppose you’re considering three point five for a mega-star deceased, not knowing there are three hundred nearly identical paintings warehoused somewhere, and that the one in front of you is a forgery, not overly significant since the artist didn’t paint the real ones either -- too boring, hired hourly assistants. Wouldn’t touch it myself, you understand, having survived a lifetime of advertising, phony promises and outrageous lies, but I’m sure you’ll make it all back, unless, of course, the bottom falls out, so sad.
I have no interest in any of it, don’t care to keep up, a lumpen philistine am I, and with further delusion, presume to project this state of mind on a lot of other people I’ve never met, and only imagine to be out there. This ghost army does like art, however, firstly as a way to consolidate their home’s value into something they can see and live with everyday, and which travels with them when they move, sane and practical. They may not know it yet, but a significant painting in the family will read back all that it’s seen years from now, witness and then touchstone of life’s important events, practical and priceless. At present, it's the price that holds them back, ‘extreme speculation’ and artists on salary distorting market values, but regions will eventually determine their own prices as practical people start wanting to own some, start looking around and educating themselves.
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