Opinion Matters But Expert Opinion Matters More!
Mass Media govern the world today and the ones who hold the strings of the world own the biggest and most influential MM organisations in the world. Needless to conclude for you that consequently we are at the mercy of the might of money even in this sphere and nearly the whole of our lives personal, family, society and government are governed by MM.
Art is NO exception to this menace and for that my Blog today and tomorrow will concentrate on this fact of life and how each one of us can take cover and protect our own sanity, individuality and why not FREEDOM!!
The puzzle for my readers is already presented to you all to untangle. Four paintings by three artists which represent very modern and much in vogue art, older art and very much collected and an artist nearly unknown but of the old school and banal for many critics and fat wallet collectors.
Which one? Why?
Read my Blog tonight and tomorrow!
#Abstract art reappears today after it was first introduced to the world by the Russian avant-garde artists of the 1910s. Thus nothing new in that art at this time and after one hundred years but gimmicks around. So why is the art of this artist and indeed of many more like him sees crazy prices at auction? Who is pushing this artist to such price heights since there is nothing much original on offer but variations of the same thing time and again? Clearly, investors and big galleries with vested interests in the artist plus of course the critics who are associated with the galleries, which do their best to promote the talent, the work, the investment opportunity etc, etc.
With so many contemporary artists in the stable of mega galleries, we are talking about huge financial concerns, it is necessary, it is imperative for them to link with the best critics or rather the most influential critics at the best publications such as The New York Times, The Times etc. Such connections are not happening at random nor accidentally. In a market of over fifty billion dollars nothing is happening accidentally and at the level I am talking about. The galleries promote art to investors who in their turn promote to friends and lesser known investors and soon it is a pyramid that due to its limited provision of goods is possibly secure and won’t collapse. There are a few cases where investments go astray but those are not too many and in their majority occur because one of the fundamental elements of investment disappears suddenly.
With so much money involved this business also needs the might of the Major Auctions, Christies and Sothebys plus others and therefore the experts at these houses are drawn into the equation of promoting names and artists either they wish it or not, either they like it or not. Their job is not to like or dislike art. They are there to make money for their employers and their clients sellers and buyers!
The middle image of the 1950s School is no such an attraction any more. The critics ahev fulfilled their role, the experts are following, the galleries have made their money and have sort of left these artists languishing in no man’s land. Interestingly here, most of the 1950s artists of renown are NO more, so no marketing for them, no connections new and old. That is art condemned as there is no money in it any more.
Cheaply bought art at the studio, promoted aggressively by galleries and auctions and then huge profits is the business. That is where critics of top newspapers like the New York Times and The Times of London play a pivotal role and determine who should be invested in and why? That is reality of art right now!!
Is that dictating to us all what to like and invest in?
Finally the superb Market Scene of a virtually unknown artist which if I asked how much you would pay for, perhaps I would get anything near a 1000 dollars, as opposed to to the 300-500,000 dollars for the abstract pieces and the middle one at about 60,000-100,000 dollars.
Why such a difference in value since the art is as good. Not celebrated artist, not in vogue, poor country of origin and so on and so on. But art, plenty of it and very good. This is what the critics determine, this is what the art experts follow and this is what the markets in their turn decide!!
Peter constant writes his view and opinion with No prejudice or interest!
