How To Buy Art
I will soon have a book in print...on buying art.
We are very excited about this, it's going to be the single most interesting book on the subject you will find anywhere.
Idle comment? No way. Our YEARS of experience in the Art World, and our hands-on work in drawing, painting, sculpture...not to mention photography...make us a genuine One of a Kind.
All that experience...coupled with top-level marketing know-how, provides us with an unusually broad perspective on everything from What Artist is Hot to whether the Art Market is a Bubble? (Yes.)
Stay tuned for pub dates and all that other good stuff.
RC
A Big Apology
Pablo,
how could we?
Somehow, we began to think less of Picasso. It was a lot of little
things; yes, the Late Work can be morbid and have a dashed off feel
to it.
And even
some of the most famous work can look tired after all this time.
But Saturday
we grabbed a VERY old and quite tattered Skira (remember them when
they were literally the Kings of Art Publishing?) book on Picasso...
looking for a particular image.
And we
were shocked again by how simply incredible this artist was.
We admit
it; in this UberSnarky environment (we're talking about NYC here)...it
is Oh, So Easy to slip into glib put-downs and snide asides.
Pablo...you
were simply Something Else. Whew! What a painter. What a sculptor.
What a...Genius.
Enuf.
We'll watch it from now on.
The
Auction Scene
In case
you haven't been watching, the numbers are through the roof. Again.
Christies is the big winner.
What
matters is that the Iconic Work is being snapped up by various Hedgies
(Hedge Fund Operators, to you) plus Oligarchs and others who are currently
awash in money.
You KNOW
it can't last. "Too Hot Not To Cool Down..."
Meanwhile,
if you want to grab some emerging artists who can barely get a glass
of wine without being carded...let us know.
They
are NOT all Americans, btw.
As readers
know, we have gone to the big auction houses to see first-hand what's
for sale at this moment in time. The high prices have scared up some
brilliant work.
Astonishing
as the sales figures are...we also have to retract a couple of enthusiastic
comments we made last week.
Let's
start with the Hans Hoffman shown here. Hey...it's a major piece and
historically important. But the painting in real life is not nearly
as impressive as it appeared to be online. Lifesized... it is strangely
"patchy." (We noticed the same thing about a large Clifford
Still.) The price is fine, at $800,000. But we are simply less than
thrilled at the painting when we stood in front of it. Sorry.
It is
still a 1960 Hans Hofmann masterpiece...by one of the MOST influential
artists in the Modern Era.
Hans
Hofmann (1880-1966)
The Cliff, 1960
+/- $800,000
Christies
is packed with paintings. This Warhol was featured on the cover of
the Catalog. We'd been seeing huge images of the painting. Including
in Christies' window. Then we got to the actual painting.
What
a letdown. It is quite small. It totally lacks "painterlyness."
It's got a "dry" feel to it. If you want an Early Icon,
grab it. You will NOT be getting a Great Warhol, only an Important
Warhol. We were bothered by the feeling, looking at this and other
Warhols...that he didn't love his subject. Including sometimes Jackie
and Marilyn. We'll have much more to say about Mr. Warhol in the future.
Andy
Warhol (1928-1987)
Small Torn Campbell’s Soup Can (Pepper Pot), 1962
20" x 16"
$10,000,000 plus
