tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/art-market-7691/articles
Art market – The Conversation
2023-03-22T11:28:37Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197361
2023-03-22T11:28:37Z
2023-03-22T11:28:37Z
Van Gogh Museum at 50: Vincent van Gogh and the art market – a brief history
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503842/original/file-20230110-20-gccc7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4545%2C3387&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/amsterdam-october-3-van-gogh-museum-415294189">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amsterdam’s <a href="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en">Van Gogh Museum</a> turns 50 in 2023. The museum, dedicated to the art of one of the most famous artists in the world, attracts over two million visitors each year. </p>
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<p>Yet, despite his fame today, Vincent van Gogh allegedly made only one documented sale of a painting during his lifetime. This was The Red Vineyard, produced near Arles in Provence in the autumn of 1888.</p>
<p>The enlightened buyer was Belgian painter <a href="https://annaboch.com/">Anna Boch</a>, whose brother was a close friend of the artist. She spotted the vibrant landscape at the 1890 exhibition of the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41825180">avant-garde group Les XX</a>, of which she was a member.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514286/original/file-20230308-26-9i4yw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514286/original/file-20230308-26-9i4yw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514286/original/file-20230308-26-9i4yw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514286/original/file-20230308-26-9i4yw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514286/original/file-20230308-26-9i4yw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514286/original/file-20230308-26-9i4yw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514286/original/file-20230308-26-9i4yw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>This article is part of our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/vincent-van-gogh-31028">Van Gogh Museum at 50</a> series. These articles mark the 50th anniversary of Amsterdam’s pioneering gallery and explore evolving cultural perceptions of one of the world’s most famous artists.</em></p>
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<p>The price was 400 francs, the equivalent of around US$2000 (£1649) today, and would have seemed like a huge windfall to the struggling Van Gogh. If it were sold at auction today, the same painting could expect to fetch upwards of a hundred million US dollars.</p>
<p>Van Gogh dreamed of <a href="https://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let670/letter.html">achieving posthumous fame</a> and it was not long after he took his own life in July 1890 that the market for his pictures began to develop.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503844/original/file-20230110-18-mkzgos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A landscape painting by Van Gogh depicting workers in a field at sunset." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503844/original/file-20230110-18-mkzgos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503844/original/file-20230110-18-mkzgos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503844/original/file-20230110-18-mkzgos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503844/original/file-20230110-18-mkzgos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503844/original/file-20230110-18-mkzgos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503844/original/file-20230110-18-mkzgos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503844/original/file-20230110-18-mkzgos.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Red Vineyard, the only painting Vincent van Gogh is certainly known to have sold during his lifetime.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pushkinmuseum.art/data/fonds/europe_and_america/j/0000_1000/zh_3372/index.php?lang=en">Pushkin Museum, Moscow</a></span>
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<p>Boch went on to buy a second painting, <a href="https://arthistory.co/vincent-van-gogh-peach-blossom-in-the-crau/">Peach Blossom in the Crau</a>, in 1891. In the same year Vincent’s art dealer brother Theo died of syphilis. Van Gogh had given a handful of works to the artists’ colour merchant Père Tanguy in Paris, but it was Theo’s widow, <a href="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/knowledge-and-research/completed-research-projects/research-project-biography-of-jo-van-gogh-bonger">Jo van Gogh Bonger</a>, who would inherit the bulk of his vast oeuvre, making her the main source of his paintings.</p>
<p>As a result, she controlled the market for Van Gogh in Paris, Berlin, London and, eventually, New York.</p>
<h2>Europe’s art market discovers Van Gogh</h2>
<p>In 1901 the French poet Julien Leclercq, with Van Gogh Bonger’s assistance, organised <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/libraries-and-research-centers/leonard-lauder-research-center/research-resources/the-modern-art-index-project/bernheim-jeune">the first Van Gogh retrospective</a> at the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris. The event brought Van Gogh to the attention of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Cassirer">German dealer Paul Cassirer</a>, who went on to create a market for Vincent’s work in Berlin, supported by the influential art historian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julius-Meier-Graefe">Julius Meier-Graefe</a>.</p>
<p>By 1914 <a href="https://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/by-appointment-only-cezanne-van-gogh-and-some-secrets-of-art-dealing-hardcover">it was estimated</a> that as many as 120 pictures by Van Gogh were in German collections and his work quickly increased in value.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503847/original/file-20230110-16-1ue118.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sepia photograph of Jo van Gogh-Bonger. She wears a round pendant at her neck and her hair is tied back." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503847/original/file-20230110-16-1ue118.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503847/original/file-20230110-16-1ue118.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503847/original/file-20230110-16-1ue118.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503847/original/file-20230110-16-1ue118.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=707&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503847/original/file-20230110-16-1ue118.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503847/original/file-20230110-16-1ue118.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503847/original/file-20230110-16-1ue118.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Jo van Gogh-Bonger (1862-1925).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/about/news-and-press/press-image-bank/images-exhibition-choosing-vincent/portrait-image-jo-van-gogh-bonger">Van Gogh Museum / Vincent van Gogh Foundation</a></span>
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<p>In Britain, meanwhile, the art dealer with the closest links to Van Gogh <a href="https://discovered.ed.ac.uk/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=44UOE_INST:44UOE_VU2&tab=Everything&docid=alma9918126313502466&lang=en&context=L&query=sub,exact,Berenson,%20Bernard,%201865-1959">was Alexander Reid</a>. In 1887 Reid worked alongside Theo at the firm of Boussod & Valadon in Paris and briefly shared an apartment with both Van Gogh brothers.</p>
<p>However, despite his close physical resemblance to the artist (two portraits of Reid by Van Gogh, now in Glasgow and Oklahoma, were originally catalogued as self-portraits), <a href="https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/van-gogh-and-britain-pioneer-collectors">it was not until the early 1920s</a> that he began to exhibit and sell his pictures to <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Impressionism_Scotland.html?id=tYjrAAAAMAAJ">rich industrialists in Glasgow</a> and London. Among the most significant was the Scottish collector <a href="https://19.bbk.ac.uk/article/id/3001/">Elizabeth Workman</a>, the wife of a successful ship owner.</p>
<p>The most important early collector of Van Gogh’s work was another enlightened woman, <a href="https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/helene-kroller-muller/">Helene Kröller-Müller</a>, who – although German by birth – was based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.</p>
<p>Advised by the Dutch painter and critic <a href="http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2020/05/16/the-art-of-henk-bremmer-1871-1956/">Henk Bremmer</a>, she bought her first work by Van Gogh in 1908. Supported by her industrialist husband Anton (who was initially sceptical of her new-found passion), she <a href="https://www.hatjecantz.de/renoir-monet-gauguin-bilder-einer-fliessenden-welt-8161-1.html">went on to acquire</a> no fewer than 91 paintings and over 180 works on paper.</p>
<p>Along with Cassirer, Bremmer <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25608496">helped to push up the price</a> of Van Gogh’s work. As a result, fakes began to appear in various galleries and exhibitions. The most famous forgery case was that of the dancer-turned-art dealer <a href="http://www.mystudios.com/gallery/forgery/history/forgery-18.html">Otto Wacker</a>, who was brought to trial in Berlin in 1932.</p>
<h2>Van Gogh’s art market goes global</h2>
<p>As the market for Van Gogh’s pictures increased, the importance of establishing the authorship of a painting or drawing became even more crucial.</p>
<p>In the 1980s, with the advent of <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/Forgotten-boom-the-legacy-of-Japan-s-1980s-art-buying-spree2">the Japanese craze for Van Gogh</a>, his work began to fetch world records at auction. In 1987 there was huge public debate around the authenticity of the Sunflowers acquired by the <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/12/16/nazi-loot-van-gogh-sunflowers-german-jewish-banker-heirs-sue-sompo-museum-art">Yasuda Marine Insurance company</a> in 1987 for US$39.9 million. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503848/original/file-20230110-12-4zs8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A self portrait in mainly blues using a pointillist technique." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503848/original/file-20230110-12-4zs8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503848/original/file-20230110-12-4zs8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503848/original/file-20230110-12-4zs8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503848/original/file-20230110-12-4zs8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503848/original/file-20230110-12-4zs8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503848/original/file-20230110-12-4zs8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/503848/original/file-20230110-12-4zs8j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat by Vincent van Gogh (1887).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0016V1962">Van Gogh Museum / Vincent van Gogh Foundation</a></span>
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<p>Three years later the Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito paid the record price of US$82.5 million for the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/05/16/825-million-for-van-gogh/82375a1f-da49-4f49-8a15-4695d1ceac83/">Portrait of Doctor Gachet</a>. Most recently this record was smashed in November 2022, when a Van Gogh landscape of Arles from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s collection <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/11/11/a-van-gogh-record-landscape-of-orchard-with-cypresses-soars-to-117m-at-paul-allen-auction">sold for US$117 million</a> to an anonymous bidder.</p>
<p>Today the Van Gogh Museum has the last word when it comes to authenticating the artist’s work. The Yasuda Sunflowers are now believed to be authentic, based on the picture’s provenance, which can be traced back to Jo van Gogh Bonger.</p>
<p>A more recent “discovery” of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/nov/15/newly-discovered-van-gogh-drawings-labelled-imitations-museum">a portfolio of Van Gogh drawings</a> in 2016, however, has not yet been accepted as genuine. But what is it about Van Gogh’s work that remains so compelling to prospective buyers, over 130 years after his death?</p>
<p>Today, as we are encouraged to focus on mental health, his work seems to have <a href="https://www.vangoghmuseumshop.com/en/alle-boeken/198246/all-books/32187/on-the-verge-of-insanity">more relevance</a> than ever. Whatever the reason, and despite <a href="https://v-a-c.org/en/publishing/the-glory-of-van-gogh">the scorn</a> that he endured during his lifetime, the market continues to be seduced – like Boch all those years ago – not only by his tragic personal story, but also by his artistic genius.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197361/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frances Fowle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
An art historian explains how Vincent van Gogh went from an unknown painter to one of the world’s most expensive artists.
Frances Fowle, Personal Chair of Nineteenth-Century Art, History of Art, The University of Edinburgh
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199756
2023-03-21T12:43:31Z
2023-03-21T12:43:31Z
In a Roman villa at the center of a nasty inheritance dispute, a Caravaggio masterpiece is hidden from the public
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515929/original/file-20230316-466-6e6j4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=68%2C61%2C4475%2C3044&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Villa Aurora in Rome, which houses works by Caravaggio and Guercino, is up for sale. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photograph-taken-on-january-21-shows-the-casino-news-photo/1237878844?phrase=villa aurora rome&adppopup=true">Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://umass.academia.edu/MonikaSchmitter">I teach Italian Renaissance and Baroque art</a>, so when I was visiting Rome in January 2023, how could I not try to see a notorious villa that was up for sale and involved in a nasty inheritance dispute? </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.minorsights.com/2016/08/italy-villa-aurora-ludovisi.html">Villa Aurora</a>, named for the masterful fresco by <a href="https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1364.html">the 17th-century artist Guercino</a> that adorns the ground-floor salon, also happens to house a rare ceiling painting by <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio">Caravaggio</a>, the 17th-century “rebel artist,” whose name makes the art market salivate. </p>
<p>I wanted to see the Caravaggio, and not just because its <a href="https://www.aboutartonline.com/la-vendita-di-villa-ludovisi-dubbi-sulla-metodologia-applicata-per-la-stima-i-precedenti-e-il-caso-degli-affreschi-di-tiepolo-a-palazzo-barbarigo/">assessed value of US$331 million</a> drove up the estimated price for the villa, apparently scaring off buyers. </p>
<p>Perhaps because of the difficulty in reproducing the work or even viewing it, the Caravaggio has received remarkably little attention from art historians. The villa, which has gone through <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/us-born-princess-vows-to-stay-in-rome-villa-despite-eviction-order-caravaggio-ceiling-fresco">five failed auctions</a> – the first one asking a cool $502 million – needs maintenance, and Italian law dictates that the Caravaggio and other art cannot be removed.</p>
<p>It is not easy to see privately held art, and given the ongoing controversy, I figured my chances were especially slim. But I duly wrote to the email address I found online. </p>
<p>A week later I got a response, and after some back and forth, on the day before I was to leave Rome, I was invited to come to the villa at 6 p.m. sharp. </p>
<p>A woman named Olga met me at the door: “The principessa will be with you in a moment,” she said.</p>
<h2>More than one masterpiece</h2>
<p>The current inhabitant of the villa is an American-born princess named <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/11/28/the-renovation-rita-jenrette-princess-italy">Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi</a>. </p>
<p>A former Texas GOP opposition researcher, she was once married to a congressman caught in <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/abscam">the Abscam scandal</a> and posed for Playboy twice in the 1980s. Her second husband, <a href="https://villaludovisi.org/2018/03/25/in-memoriam-hsh-prince-nicolo-boncompagni-ludovisi-rome-21-january-1941-rome-8-march-2018/">Nicolò Boncampagni</a> Ludovisi, was Prince of Piombino. He owned the villa and promised her <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/usufruct">usufructuary rights</a>, meaning she should be allowed to occupy the villa until her death. </p>
<p>But the prince’s three sons from his first marriage are forcing the sale because, <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/01/18/when-is-a-caravaggio-worth-zero-when-its-on-a-ceiling-and-you-may-not-remove-it-for-sale">according to Italian law</a>, inheritances must be divided between the surviving spouse and any descendants.</p>
<p>It’s a media story to die for: old-world aristocrats face off against a supposed bimbo and gold digger from Texas – with a Caravaggio thrown in for good measure. </p>
<p>The villa was historically known as the Casino Ludovisi, but it became famous among art historians for its ceiling painting by <a href="https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1364.html">Guercino</a>.</p>
<p>In a tour de force of illusion, the ceiling is painted to look as through the architecture opens up to the sky with the goddess <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eos-Greek-and-Roman-mythology">Aurora</a>, or Dawn, driving her chariot across the space above.</p>
<p>The Caravaggio, by contrast, barely registers in the voluminous scholarship on the artist. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516078/original/file-20230317-2393-ue4l9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Image of a ceiling fresco." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516078/original/file-20230317-2393-ue4l9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516078/original/file-20230317-2393-ue4l9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516078/original/file-20230317-2393-ue4l9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516078/original/file-20230317-2393-ue4l9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516078/original/file-20230317-2393-ue4l9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516078/original/file-20230317-2393-ue4l9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516078/original/file-20230317-2393-ue4l9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Guercino’s ‘Aurora on Her Triumphal Chariot’ at Villa Aurora.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photograph-taken-on-january-21-shows-the-ceiling-news-photo/1237880015?adppopup=true">Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Meeting the principessa</h2>
<p>I looked down in dismay at my sneakers, my corduroy pants, and my purple Eddie Bauer jacket that has seen better days: I hadn’t anticipated meeting the principessa herself. </p>
<p>Olga guided me into a second room and introduced me to the principessa. She is most definitely American – tall, blond and looking much younger than her age of 73. </p>
<p>After talking extensively about the villa and its works of art, Rita, as she calls herself, introduced me to a dapper Italian man from the Ministry of Culture, whom, she explained, could hopefully stop <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/14/princess-rita-jenrette-faces-eviction-from-rome-villa/">her imminent eviction</a> from her home. She then showed me the magnificent painting by Guercino.</p>
<p>Then a journalist from the Italian newspaper La Stampa appeared, and the principessa was whisked away for an interview. She told me, in parting, “Olga will show you the Caravaggio.”</p>
<h2>Encountering the Caravaggio</h2>
<p>Olga led me up a spiral stairway to the second floor: “Here is the other Guercino,” she said. I looked up to see <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guercino_-_Ceiling_painting,_Casino_dell%27Aurora,_11aurora.jpg">a second illusionistic fresco</a>, the same size as the one on the ground floor, this one depicting the figure of Fame flying through the sky.</p>
<p>I hadn’t known this one even existed.</p>
<p>Then Olga turned on the lights in what looked like a small hallway, its walls painted a bright, hospital white. I looked up to see Caravaggio’s painting, which depicts muscular nude men surrounding a translucent white globe.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515928/original/file-20230316-1658-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Ceiling painting of muscular men and mythological creatures surrounding an orb." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515928/original/file-20230316-1658-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515928/original/file-20230316-1658-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515928/original/file-20230316-1658-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515928/original/file-20230316-1658-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515928/original/file-20230316-1658-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515928/original/file-20230316-1658-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515928/original/file-20230316-1658-fy5fg2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Since it’s located in a private residence, Caravaggio’s painting at the Villa Aurora has been difficult for the public to view.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photograph-taken-on-january-21-shows-jupiter-neptune-news-photo/1237878868?phrase=villa%20aurora%20rome&adppopup=true">Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The detail is intense, the colors bright and sharp in a way that is exceptional for a ceiling painting. </p>
<p>Caravaggio managed to make the three-headed dog <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cerberus">Cerberus</a> look as though it really existed – bringing to life the creature’s soft black and white fur, the red of its eyes, the pink ribbing of one upper mouth and the white glint of its teeth. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515916/original/file-20230316-19-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Painting detail of a three-headed dog." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515916/original/file-20230316-19-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515916/original/file-20230316-19-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515916/original/file-20230316-19-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515916/original/file-20230316-19-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515916/original/file-20230316-19-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515916/original/file-20230316-19-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515916/original/file-20230316-19-qc1ez4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A detail from Caravaggio’s ceiling painting depicts Cerberus, a mythical three-headed dog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/italy-lazio-rome-villa-boncompagni-ludovisi-detail-three-news-photo/132705020?phrase=caravaggio%20villa%20ludovisi&adppopup=true">Mondadori Portfolio/Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I later learned that the picture had not been painted <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/fresco-painting">in the traditional fresco technique</a>, on wet plaster, but with the unusual application of oil on dry plaster, allowing Caravaggio to execute the precision, color, detail and texture.</p>
<p>Although some art historians have <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HXc2MNp7ffIC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ViewAPI#v=onepage&q&f=false">questioned the attribution</a>, there is no doubt in my mind that this is Caravaggio. Only he would – even could – paint such a seemingly plausible Cerberus. </p>
<p>The composition works only in its original location, since the scale, height and curvature of the ceiling transform the work. The painting purports to show a rectangular opening in the ceiling through which viewers can see the sky and clouds. In the center, within a white globe depicting the universe, one sees the Sun, Moon and signs of the horoscope. </p>
<p>On each side of the globe are the nude, burly, he-men: on one side, Jupiter, awkwardly flying through the sky on an eagle, pushes the sphere; on the other, Jupiter’s brothers, Pluto and Neptune, stand as if at the edge of the opening in the ceiling, looking down.</p>
<h2>Suffused with impish subtext</h2>
<p>Given its lack of scholarly attention, the Caravaggio is much more compelling than I expected. </p>
<p>One 17th-century biographer, <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095457632;jsessionid=F7F4BCEDD2540BB7CF63AFD4296936AA">Pietro Bellori</a>, claimed that Caravaggio <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Giovan_Pietro_Bellori_The_Lives_of_the_M/Lm9gs8mXwOUC?hl=en">painted the work to silence critics</a> who alleged that he lacked the technical skill to pull off the tricks in perspective required for ceiling art.</p>
<p>But I think Caravaggio was up to something more complicated. His aim was not so much to prove he could paint with foreshortened figures and receding architecture, but rather to make fun of the fad for illusionistic ceiling paintings that render scenes “as if seen from below” – “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/sotto-in-su">di sotto in su</a>,” as it is termed in art history.</p>
<p>Running with the concept of “di sotto in su,” Caravaggio cheekily gives onlookers a graphic view from below Pluto’s penis and testicles, not to mention a novel perspective on his buttocks. </p>
<p>Caravaggio didn’t stop there. </p>
<p>Jupiter’s pose is almost incomprehensible, his face concealed, his limbs flailing in different directions – very undignified, particularly for an oversize Olympian god. It’s an NFL linebacker riding an overmatched eagle.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515918/original/file-20230316-386-o65sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Muscular man riding an eagle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515918/original/file-20230316-386-o65sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515918/original/file-20230316-386-o65sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515918/original/file-20230316-386-o65sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515918/original/file-20230316-386-o65sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515918/original/file-20230316-386-o65sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515918/original/file-20230316-386-o65sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515918/original/file-20230316-386-o65sgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jupiter riding an eagle in a detail of Caravaggio’s painting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/italy-lazio-rome-villa-boncompagni-ludovisi-whole-artwork-news-photo/132705019?phrase=caravaggio%20villa%20ludovisi&adppopup=true">Mondadori Portfolio/Hudson Fine Art Collection via Getty Images.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From between Jupiter’s legs emerges the very phallic long neck and beak of the eagle with his bright, dark eye glaring down at the mortals below. (In Italian, “bird” <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/italian-english/uccello">is slang for penis</a>.) </p>
<p>Pluto and Neptune also have their pets, which are themselves rivals: Pluto’s snarling dog frightens Neptune’s seahorse. Neptune, who is Caravaggio’s self-portrait, in turn looks threateningly at Pluto. And then there is the juxtaposition of Cerberus’ bared teeth and Pluto’s very exposed “equipment.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516080/original/file-20230317-20-skboj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two muscular nude men, a horse and a three-headed dog." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516080/original/file-20230317-20-skboj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516080/original/file-20230317-20-skboj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516080/original/file-20230317-20-skboj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516080/original/file-20230317-20-skboj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516080/original/file-20230317-20-skboj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516080/original/file-20230317-20-skboj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516080/original/file-20230317-20-skboj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A detail of Pluto and Neptune in Caravaggio’s painting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photograph-taken-on-january-21-shows-jupiter-neptune-news-photo/1237879028?adppopup=true">Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When I consider the patronage of the painting, it all makes sense. </p>
<p>Caravaggio painted the ceiling in 1599 or 1600 when the villa was owned by his first important patron, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caravaggio/The-patronage-of-Cardinal-del-Monte">Cardinal Francesco del Monte</a>.</p>
<p>Caravaggio lived in del Monte’s palace in town, and there is evidence to suggest that <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/bersani-caravaggio.html">they both enjoyed the company of young men</a>, and they <a href="http://www.glbtqarchive.com/arts/caravaggio_A.pdf">may even have been lovers</a>.</p>
<p>While it is difficult to confirm the men’s sexual preferences, there is no question that the ceiling is a product of their shared sensibility: locker room art for sophisticated, 17th-century cultural “jocks.”</p>
<p>The room was Del Monte’s “<a href="http://www.italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-4/essays/a-room-of-ones-own-the-studiolo/">studiolo</a>,” a type of small room usually used by members of the wealthy elite to get away from it all and “study” (whatever that might entail). </p>
<p>The ceiling was to be shared by a bon vivant, learned cardinal with a select audience of like-minded men. Caravaggio never painted another ceiling because tricks of perspective were fundamentally incompatible with <a href="https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-02717-7.html">his realist inclinations</a>, but perhaps he did this one for his friend and patron as a kind of joke.</p>
<h2>Now what?</h2>
<p>I left the Villa Aurora that night with a new perspective on 17th-century art and full of thoughts about the role these works of art, created for members of an extraordinarily privileged elite of the past, play in our modern democratic society. </p>
<p>The same day as my visit, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/us-born-princess-vows-to-stay-in-rome-villa-despite-eviction-order-caravaggio-ceiling-fresco">the judge in the inheritance dispute ruled</a> that the principessa would be evicted from the villa to facilitate its sale. I suspect this is devastating for her, given how much effort she has put into <a href="https://villaludovisi.org/">preserving her husband’s legacy</a>.</p>
<p>But I also wonder what will happen to this villa and its unique collection of 16th- and 17th-century ceiling paintings. </p>
<p>I think it would be a travesty for them to remain in private hands, because everyone, including my students, should be able to see these works. Art historians know about the tensions between private property and cultural heritage, but this is a real opportunity for the new Italian Minister of Culture, <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/gennaro-sangiuliano-italy-culture-minister-2200501">Gennaro Sangiuliano</a>, to set an example, as his predecessors have done with the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/09/arts/venice-grimani-collection-sculpture.html">Palazzo Grimani at Santa Formosa in Venice</a>.</p>
<p>Once the residence of a wealthy and powerful noble family, Palazzo Grimani fell into disrepair until it was purchased in 1981 by the state. After many years of renovation, it opened as a public museum in 2008. </p>
<p>The frescoes in the Palazzo Grimani are not nearly as artistically significant as those in the Villa Aurora, but the museum today is one of the most interesting monuments in Venice.</p>
<p>I believe the Villa Aurora, restored and open to everyone as a museum of Renaissance and Baroque ceiling painting, could do the same for Rome.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199756/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monika Schmitter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
What will happen to this villa and its unique collection of 16th- and 17th-century ceiling paintings?
Monika Schmitter, Professor and Chair of History of Art and Architecture, UMass Amherst
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/189855
2022-09-30T12:28:10Z
2022-09-30T12:28:10Z
Do multimillion-dollar dinosaur auctions erode trust in science?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485915/original/file-20220921-8022-4e742t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=74%2C0%2C7011%2C4716&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sotheby's sold a 77 million-year-old Gorgosaurus skeleton for over $6 million in July 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/gorgosaurus-skeleton-is-on-display-during-a-press-preview-news-photo/1406957644?adppopup=true">Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dinosaurs are in the news these days, but it’s not just for groundbreaking discoveries.</p>
<p>More and more paleontologists are ringing alarm bells about high-profile auctions in which dinosaur fossils sell for outrageous sums. The most recent example involves <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/sothebys-gorgosaurus-skeleton-8-million-2142470">a 77 million-year-old <em>Gorgosaurus</em> skeleton</a> that Sotheby’s sold for over US$6 million in August 2022.</p>
<p>But that’s not even close to the most anyone ever paid for a dinosaur. In May 2022, Christie’s sold a <em>Deinonychus</em> skeleton for <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/dinosaur-skeleton-christies-2114482">$12.4 million</a>. And a couple of months before that, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism paid an <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/stan-the-t-rex-found-worlds-most-expensive-fossil-finds-home-in-a-new-museum">eye-popping $31.8 million for Stan</a>, a remarkably complete <em>T. rex</em> from South Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation that’s going to be the centerpiece of the Persian Gulf city’s new natural history museum.</p>
<hr>
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<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Some scientists are so dismayed they are speaking out. University of Edinburgh paleontologist Steve Brusatte <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11117517/Furious-paleontologists-blast-auction-houses-letting-super-rich-buy-dinosaur-specimens.html">told the Daily Mail</a> that auction houses turn valuable specimens into “little more than toys for the rich.” Thomas Carr from Carthage College in Wisconsin was <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11117517/Furious-paleontologists-blast-auction-houses-letting-super-rich-buy-dinosaur-specimens.html">even more forthright</a>, saying, “Greed for money is what drives these auctions.” He also complained that wealthy elites – <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/10/nicolas-cage-leonardo-dicaprio-dinosaur-skull">including actors Nicholas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio</a> – are competing to acquire the best specimens in a game of juvenile one-upmanship, describing them as “thieves of time.”</p>
<p>Most commenters trace the booming market for dinosaurs <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/sue-t-rex">back to Sue, the largest and most complete <em>T. rex</em> ever found</a>. After the FBI confiscated it from <a href="https://www.bhigr.com/">the same group of fossil hunters</a> who found Stan, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago acquired it – with financial backing from Disney and McDonald’s – for over $8 million in 1997. </p>
<p>But as I document in my recent book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Assembling-Dinosaur-Hunters-Tycoons-Spectacle/dp/067473758X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rieppel+assembling+the+dinosaur&qid=1662586515&sprefix=rieppel+ass%2Caps%2C61&sr=8-1">Assembling the Dinosaur</a>,” the commercial specimen trade is as old as the science of paleontology itself. And its history shows the debate over whether dinosaurs ought to be bought and sold involves much deeper questions about the long-standing but hotly contested relationship between science and capitalism.</p>
<h2>Two sides of the debate</h2>
<p>Paleontologists have good reason to oppose the commercial sale of valuable fossils. Science is fundamentally a community enterprise, and if specimens aren’t available for public examination, paleontologists have no way to assess whether new findings are true. What if a particularly outlandish theory is based on a fraudulent specimen?</p>
<p>This happens more often than you’d think. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/35001723">In the late 1990s</a> a private collector purchased what appeared to be a feathered dinosaur at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. National Geographic subsequently reported on it to great fanfare, claiming it was a “missing link” between dinosaurs and modern birds. When scientists grew suspicious, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/420285a">they found</a> that the so-called “<em>Archaeoraptor</em>” fossil combined pieces of several distinct specimens to make a chimerical creature that never existed.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Rex_Appeal.html?id=o5TuAAAAMAAJ">commercial fossil hunters</a> make a compelling point, too. Most fossils first come to light through the natural process of erosion. Eventually, however, erosion also destroys the specimen itself – and there simply aren’t enough scientists to find every fossil before it is lost. Hence, the argument goes, commercial collectors should be celebrated for saving specimens by digging them up.</p>
<h2>Wealthy philanthropists distance themselves</h2>
<p>Both sides of the argument make a compelling point. But as the fiasco around “<em>Archaeoraptor</em>” reveals, it’s worth asking whether financial incentives erode trust.</p>
<p>Dinosaurs first came to the attention of geologists during the 19th century. In fact, these gigantic lizards did not acquire their name until the comparative anatomist Richard Owen invented <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=mSTs2oyhdS0C&vq=dinosauria&pg=PA190#v=onepage&q&f=false">the biological category “Dinosauria”</a> in 1842. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Portrait of man with white beard wearing a suit seated in a chair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie had a dinosaur species, <em>Diplodocus carnegii</em>, named after him.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie#/media/File:Andrew_Carnegie,_by_Theodore_Marceau.jpg">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At that time, scientists <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715570650">did not treat dinosaurs any differently</a> from other valuables that could be dug out of the ground, such as gold, silver and coal. Museums purchased most of their fossils from commercial collectors, often using funds donated by wealthy industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, who even had a dinosaur named after him: <em><a href="https://upittpress.org/books/9780822966524/">Diplodocus carnegii</a></em>.</p>
<p>That started to change at the very end of the 19th century, when there was a concerted effort to decommodify dinosaur bones, and museums began to distance themselves from the commercial specimen trade. </p>
<p>One impetus came from museums’ wealthy benefactors, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230115569">who sought to demarcate</a> their charitable activities from the unsavory world of commerce. Philanthropists like Carnegie and J.P. Morgan gave money to cultural institutions because they wanted to signal their refined taste, their appreciation for learning and their republican virtues – not to enter into a business transaction.</p>
<p>Moreover, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674979857">the first Gilded Age resembled the present</a> in that it, too, saw a sharp increase in economic inequality. This led to widespread class conflict, which could be <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1339-when-workers-shot-back">remarkably violent and bloody</a>. Afraid that incendiary labor leaders would bring the industrial economy to its knees, wealthy elites began <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Gospel_of_Wealth_and_Other_Timely_Es/q5ALvRp61wgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR3&printsec=frontcover">using public displays of conspicuous generosity</a> to demonstrate that American capitalism could yield public goods in addition to profits. </p>
<p>For all these reasons, it was essential for their philanthropic activities to be seen as selfless acts of genuine altruism, utterly divorced from the cutthroat competition of the marketplace.</p>
<h2>Scientists take control</h2>
<p>At the same time, paleontologists <a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/3181/scientists-and-swindlers">embraced the language of “pure science”</a> to claim they produced knowledge for its own sake – not financial gain.</p>
<p>By arguing that their work was free from the corrupting influence of money, scientists made themselves <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo3626633.html">more trustworthy</a>.</p>
<p>Ironically, scientists found they could attract more funds by claiming to be completely uninterested in money, fashioning themselves into ideal recipients for the philanthropic largesse of wealthy elites. But that further necessitated a clear demarcation between the the culture of capitalism and the practice of science, which entailed a reluctance to acquire specimens via purchase.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Old photograph of three men working on an excavation site." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the turn of the 20th century, museums started funding excavations to unearth dinosaur bones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://museum.wales/media/48597/thumb_1024/bone-cabin-quarry-1898-PublicDomain.jpg">Museum Wales</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As scientists began shunning the commercial specimen trade, museums set about using the generous donations of wealthy philanthropists to mount increasingly ambitious expeditions that allowed scientists to collect fossils themselves.</p>
<h2>Dinosaurs in the New Gilded Age</h2>
<p>But their ability to control the private market for dinosaur bones did not last forever. With the United States in the middle of what some call a <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/4/1/18286084/gilded-age-income-inequality-robber-baron">New Gilded Age</a>, it has come roaring back. </p>
<p>Today, the most spectacular dinosaur fossils often hail from the Jehol formation of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01420">northeastern China</a>. And more often than not, they are purchased from local farmers who supplement their incomes by hunting for fossils on the side. </p>
<p>As a result, the question of whether commercial incentives erode trust is back with a vengeance. Li Chun, a professor at Beijing’s prestigious Institute for Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.330.6012.1740">estimates that</a> more than 80% of all marine reptiles on display in Chinese museums have been deceptively altered to some degree, often to increase their value.</p>
<p>The age-old worry about whether the profit motive threatens to undermine the values of science is real. But it is hardly unique to paleontology. </p>
<p>The spectacular <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549478/bad-blood-by-john-carreyrou/">implosion of Theranos</a>, a tech startup that secured more than $700 million in venture capital based on false promises of having developed a better way to conduct blood tests, is just just a particularly high-profile example of commercial deceit paired with scientific misconduct. So much scientific research is now being paid for by people who have a commercial stake in the knowledge produced – and you can see the ramifications in everything from <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/">Exxon’s decision to hide its early research on climate change</a> to Moderna’s recent move to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/business/moderna-covid-vaccine-lawsuit.html">begin enforcing its patent</a> on the mRNA technology behind the most effective COVID-19 vaccines. </p>
<p>Is it any wonder that <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/">so many people have lost trust in science</a>?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lukas Rieppel has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, among others.</span></em></p>
Derided as ‘toys for the rich,’ the specimens being bought and sold raise broader questions about the relationship between science and capitalism.
Lukas Rieppel, Associate Professor of History, Brown University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/174462
2022-01-13T01:33:24Z
2022-01-13T01:33:24Z
NFTs, an overblown speculative bubble inflated by pop culture and crypto mania
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439935/original/file-20220110-26-xvs5yd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C720%2C4500%2C2270&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Comedian Robin Williams once called cocaine “God’s way of telling you you are making too much money”. This role may now have been overtaken by non-fungible tokens, the blockchain-based means to claim unique ownership of easily copied digital assets.</p>
<p>The latest NFT mania involves fantastic amounts of money being paid for “Bored Apes”, 10,000 avatars featuring variants of a bored-looking cartoon ape. Last month rapper Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/01/03/eminem-nft-bored-ape-yacht-club/">paid about US$450,000</a> in Ethereum cryptocurrency to acquire Bored Ape No. 9055 – nicknamed EminApe, because its khaki and gold chain resembles what Eminem wears. It purportedly joins <a href="https://news.bitcoin.com/eminem-purchases-bored-ape-yacht-club-9055-for-452k-shadys-portfolio-holds-166-nfts/">more than 160 other NFTs</a> in the rapper’s collection. </p>
<p>The Bored Ape character seems derivative of the drawings of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2017/nov/07/gorillaz-oxfam-and-a-tarot-fool-art-by-jamie-hewlett-in-pictures">Jamie Hewlett</a>, the artist who drew Tank Girl and virtual band <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/9975/gorillaz/">Gorillaz</a>. According to the creators, each variant is “generated from over 170 possible traits, including expression, headwear, clothing, and more”. They say every ape is unique “<a href="https://boredapeyachtclub.com">but some are rarer than others</a>”.</p>
<p>So what does Eminem now own? He has an electronic version of an image, which he is using for his <a href="https://twitter.com/Eminem?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Twitter profile</a>. But then so does anyone who copies it from the internet. The only difference is that he has a record in a blockchain that shows he bought it. He also gets to be a member of the “<a href="https://boredapeyachtclub.com/#/">Bored Ape Yacht Club</a>” a members-only online space whose benefits and purpose beyond being a marketing gimmick are unclear.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Eminem's Bored Ape avatar on his Twitter profile." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440389/original/file-20220112-21-4mllrq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440389/original/file-20220112-21-4mllrq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440389/original/file-20220112-21-4mllrq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440389/original/file-20220112-21-4mllrq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440389/original/file-20220112-21-4mllrq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440389/original/file-20220112-21-4mllrq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440389/original/file-20220112-21-4mllrq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eminem’s ‘Bored Ape’ avatar on his Twitter profile.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twitter</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>That’s about it. The intellectual property (such as it is) remains with the creators. He is not entitled to any share of merchandising revenue from the character. He can only profit from his purchase if he can find a “<a href="https://www.scienceabc.com/social-science/greater-fool-theory-bitcoin-definition-examples.html">greater fool</a>” willing to pay even more for the NFT. </p>
<p>Which is unlikely. While publicity given to the rapper’s purchase certainly seems to have boosted demand, the average price paid for Bored Ape NFTs so far in 2022 is about <a href="https://opensea.io/collection/boredapeyachtclub?tab=activity">83 Ether</a> (currently about US$280,000). Eminem may have been prepared to pay much more for the one that looked more like him; but would anyone else?</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440564/original/file-20220113-27-1oyr3wc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="'Bored Ape' sales activity from NFT marketplace OpenSea. Prices are in 'ether', the currency unit of the Ethereum blockchain platfrom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440564/original/file-20220113-27-1oyr3wc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440564/original/file-20220113-27-1oyr3wc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440564/original/file-20220113-27-1oyr3wc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440564/original/file-20220113-27-1oyr3wc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440564/original/file-20220113-27-1oyr3wc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440564/original/file-20220113-27-1oyr3wc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440564/original/file-20220113-27-1oyr3wc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Bored Ape’ sales activity from NFT marketplace OpenSea. Prices are in ‘ether’, the currency unit of the Ethereum blockchain platfrom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://opensea.io/collection/boredapeyachtclub">OpenSea</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>NFTs are a highly speculative purchase. The basis of the market is proof of unique ownership, which only really matters for bragging rights and the prospect of selling the NFT in the future. NFT mania arguably combines the most tawdry and avaricious aspects of collectibles and blockchain markets with celebrity culture. </p>
<h2>The rise of the celebrity influencer</h2>
<p>Eminem’s monster payment in particular has lent credibility to the idea these NFTs have value. But he is not the only celebrity who has helped attract attention to the Bored Ape NFTs. </p>
<p>Others to <a href="https://nftnow.com/lists/celebrities-who-have-bored-ape-yacht-club-nfts/">buy into the hype</a> include basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry, billionaire Mark Cuban, electronic dance music DJ Steve Aoki, YouTuber Logan Paul and late-night television host Jimmy Fallon.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440568/original/file-20220113-25-dgvi0t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Jimmy Fallon's tweet about his Bored Ape purchase." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440568/original/file-20220113-25-dgvi0t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440568/original/file-20220113-25-dgvi0t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440568/original/file-20220113-25-dgvi0t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440568/original/file-20220113-25-dgvi0t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=762&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440568/original/file-20220113-25-dgvi0t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440568/original/file-20220113-25-dgvi0t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440568/original/file-20220113-25-dgvi0t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=958&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jimmy Fallon’s tweet about his Bored Ape purchase.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/jimmyfallon/status/1459164143626424321?lang=en">Twitter</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These well-publicised purchasers effectively act as a form of celebrity endorsement – a tried and true marketing tactic. It is a graphic example of the power of media culture to stoke “irrational exuberance” in financial markets.</p>
<p>There has been a shift away from traditional investments and sources of investment advice. With prices disconnected from any future cash flows, there is less interest in forecasts from technical experts. Instead people turn to social media and “doing their own research”. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://www.fool.com/research/gen-z-millennial-investors-tools/">survey</a> in mid-2021 (polling 1,400 investors aged 18 to 40) suggested about a third of Gen Z investors regard <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@cannolicrypto/video/6844644996675554566?u_code=d2h683mke5abmh&preview_pb=0&language=en&_d=dd5ggij5mh8mi8&share_item_id=6844644996675554566&timestamp=1594017582&utm_campaign=client_share&app=musically&utm_medium=ios&user_id=6612763001102696454&tt_from=sms&utm_source=sms&source=h5_m">TikTok videos</a> as a source of trustworthy investment advice. </p>
<p>This has opened up the field for celebrity influencers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fintok-and-finfluencers-are-on-the-rise-3-tips-to-assess-if-their-advice-has-value-161406">FinTok and 'finfluencers' are on the rise: 3 tips to assess if their advice has value</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A lot like Ponzi schemes</h2>
<p>While not illegal, many NFT marketing ventures have some <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/83a14261-598d-4601-87fc-5dde528b33d0">similarities</a> with <a href="https://moneysmart.gov.au/investment-warnings/ponzi-schemes">Ponzi schemes</a>, such as that operated by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/14/bernie-madoff-dies-prison-ponzi-scheme">Bernie Madoff</a> (who sustained his fraud for decades by paying high “dividends” from the deposits of new investors). </p>
<p>Cryptocurrency markets work in essentially the same manner. For existing investors to profit, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/26283f09-c3df-4c7e-814c-65083b063d8a">new buyers</a> have to be drawn into the market. So too NFTs, with something illusory attached to the digital assets.</p>
<p>Some light on the worth of this attachment compared to the economics of NFTs themselves may come from the interesting (and also highly profitable) experiment by the (now not so) “young British artist” Damien Hirst – himself a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-art-market-not-a-pretty-picture-41822">master self-promoter</a>.</p>
<p>Hirst’s well-publicised “The Currency” project has involved selling NFTs for 10,000 similar but unique dot paintings. The twist is that at the end of a 12-month period those who have bought the NFT must decide if they want the digital token or the physical artwork. If they keep the NFT the artwork will be destroyed.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">These two Damien Hirst ‘Currency’ works sold within a hour of each other. ‘5083. Yeah, come on for a ride’, left, sold for US$45,966. ‘6307. We shall bring our own children’, right, sold for US$26,285.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://currency.nft.heni.com/stats">HENI</a></span>
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</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/damien-hirsts-dotty-currency-art-makes-as-much-sense-as-bitcoin-166958">Damien Hirst's dotty 'currency' art makes as much sense as Bitcoin</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>No fundamental value</h2>
<p>There’s virtually nothing humans can’t turn into a market. But increasingly there are speculative bubbles in things with absolutely no fundamental value. NFTs have joined Bitcoin and celebrity meme-based cryptocurrencies such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-gamestop-the-rise-of-dogecoin-shows-us-how-memes-can-move-markets-154470">Dogecoin</a> and <a href="https://www.fxempire.com/education/article/what-is-shiba-inu-the-meme-coin-designed-to-kill-dogecoin-804989">Shiba Inu</a> as examples of tokens with no intrinsic worth, which speculators just buy in the hope the price will keep rising. </p>
<p>Even <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-gamestop-the-rise-of-dogecoin-shows-us-how-memes-can-move-markets-154470">Dogecoin</a>, started as a satire on these excesses, is now valued at <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/">US$20 billion</a> and promoted in <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/025ea33f-7351-4d86-a1ca-b6c268f5b042">Ponzi-like ways</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-bitcoins-fundamental-value-thats-a-good-question-171387">What is Bitcoin's fundamental value? That's a good question</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Some studies have suggested <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2782236">tweets</a> or <a href="https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1544612318301326?token=59D9447B0D87B50CD42DB7D10454D35453B594ED7F6B115547A4424AD48FF2CB1603C8F7A408882E39EE81B837C6AE47&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20220106032009">Facebook posts</a> can now drive stock prices. <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/5/18/22441831/elon-musk-bitcoin-dogecoin-crypto-prices-tesla">Elon Musk’s tweets</a> certainly seem to have a large impact on cryptocurrency prices. </p>
<p>We now appear to be in the monster of all speculative bubbles. The creators of assets like NFTs will do well. It is not so clear about the holders.</p>
<p>Nor will the impact of NFT crashes be restricted just to the NFT market. Speculators, particularly if they have borrowed heavily, may need to liquidate other assets as well. This is all likely to make all financial markets more volatile. </p>
<p>The larger the bubble becomes, the wider the contagion when it bursts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174462/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article is part of a series on financial and economic literacy funded by Ecstra Foundation.</span></em></p>
The craze among celebrities for Bored Ape NFTs suggests speculation has become completely detached from any idea of fundamental value.
John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/171993
2021-11-19T13:17:18Z
2021-11-19T13:17:18Z
4 reasons why museums aren’t cashing in on NFTs yet
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432683/original/file-20211118-22-1kyrjxv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman looks at a non-fungible token digital art display in New York City in September 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-looks-at-an-nft-titled-curio-cards-a-full-set-of-30-news-photo/1235555155">Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The eye-popping sale price of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/how-beeple-crashed-the-art-world">US$69 million</a> on March 11, 2021, for a non-fungible token created by the digital artist Beeple sent shock waves through the art world. More <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/updated-most-expensive-nfts-1980942">multimillion-dollar sales</a> of these digital assets that <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-would-anyone-buy-crypto-art-let-alone-spend-millions-on-whats-essentially-a-link-to-a-jpeg-file-157115">exist on a blockchain</a> and are maintained on networked computers soon followed.</p>
<p>At the same time, art museums have faced substantial <a href="https://www.aam-us.org/2021/06/01/museum-recovery-expected-to-take-years-due-to-devastating-financial-losses-new-survey-reveals/">financial shortfalls</a> accelerated by a decline in visitors <a href="https://theconversation.com/americans-gave-a-record-471-billion-to-charity-in-2020-amid-concerns-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-job-losses-and-racial-justice-161489">and donations</a> induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have considered taking <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/02/22/970190768/the-met-considers-selling-its-art-to-stave-off-financial-shortfall">drastic measures</a>, such as selling treasured artworks, to plug budget gaps.</p>
<p>Can NFTs generate the <a href="https://www.apollo-magazine.com/should-museums-be-dabbling-in-nfts/">revenue many museums sorely need</a>? Some are issuing their own tokens, including the <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/british-museum-hokusai-nfts-1234604998/">British Museum</a> and the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/academy-museum-nfts-haas-brothers-1235033431/">Academy Museum of Motion Pictures</a>. The <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/07/09/miamis-institute-of-contemporary-art-gifted-cryptopunk-nft/">Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami</a> accepted an early NFT from a donor. There’s even an NFT of entire museum called the <a href="https://mashable.com/article/nft-metaverse-digital-museum">Museum of Digital Life</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, more than six months into this disruption of the art world, <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/680464/how-museums-and-nfts-might-find-common-ground/">museums have generally engaged very little</a> with NFTs. As researchers who examine both the finances of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Rap6TboAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">nonprofit organizations</a> and the growth in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=UsFwZekAAAAJ">NFTs, crypto-assets and other associated blockchain applications</a>, we see four primary reasons why museums have failed to turn the NFT craze into a financial windfall.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1458550136972488706"}"></div></p>
<h2>1. NFTs are complicated</h2>
<p>The people running museums have expertise encompassing art, education and curation. NFTs are an entirely different realm that’s quite detached from art and have <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/business/nfts-are-huge-but-what-exactly-is-a-non-fungible-token-heres-a-10-point-guide-2615944">more in common with crypto-currency</a> than typical artworks like paintings and sculptures.</p>
<p>What sets NTFs apart from crypto-currencies like bitcoin and ethereum, which are designed to be interchangeable, is that each NFT represents a unique asset. Figuring out how NFTs must be treated, held and valued is hard, and the ability to quickly mint NFTs for auction is not something that may come naturally to museum staff. What’s more, NFTs are typically bought and sold with crypto-currencies, and <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/how-nonprofits-are-navigating-the-rise-of-cryptocurrency-giving-99925">not many organizations</a> – including museums – regularly make transactions using them.</p>
<p>On top of any missing financial know-how and a culture that seeks to <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/680464/how-museums-and-nfts-might-find-common-ground/">minimize risks</a>, there are <a href="https://unframed.lacma.org/2021/08/30/nfts-and-museum-part-2-legal-issues-acquisitions">legal complexities</a> and <a href="https://www.instech.london/insight/insuring-nfts-challenge-covering-new-asset-class">insurance complications</a>. So we can understand why museums have not rushed into the NFT market.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1416036319634014209"}"></div></p>
<h2>2. The monetary upside might be missing</h2>
<p>The connection between the ownership of a piece of art and an NFT associated with that artwork can be confusing. Although it may appear otherwise, the NFT is a separate asset from the art itself. The owners of the art <a href="https://observer.com/2021/04/five-things-artists-should-know-and-do-before-getting-into-nfts/">retain ownership</a> even after any NFTs derived from that art are minted and sold.</p>
<p>This separation may mean that the owner of the art has no particular ability to turn an affiliated NFT into a big payoff. Much like the value of a painting has little to do with what the paint, canvas and frame are worth, an NFT’s financial <a href="https://theconversation.com/nft-art-the-bizarre-world-where-burning-a-banksy-can-make-it-more-valuable-156605">value is subjective</a>. It depends on what others are willing to pay.</p>
<p>The creators of the underlying art, such as musicians and artists who retain control over their work, can – <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nfts-are-a-game-changer-for-independent-artists-and-musicians">and do</a> – mint NFTs connected to them. Once art is held in a museum collection, however, the value of NFTs is less clear.</p>
<p>Much like an author-autographed copy of a book can be more valuable than a book without that signature, an NFT minted by an artist of a popular artwork can attract interest from collectors. On the other hand, a book signed by the publisher or an NFT minted by a museum is bound to be less appealing to collectors. An artist-minted NFT that a museum holds could fetch more interest. </p>
<p>Stated another way, even if a museum possesses valuable artwork, that <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-would-anyone-buy-crypto-art-let-alone-spend-millions-on-whats-essentially-a-link-to-a-jpeg-file-157115">does not mean</a> minting NFTs is a guaranteed revenue stream.</p>
<h2>3. The NFT market values artists, not institutions</h2>
<p>One underlying reason the market for NFTs tied to artwork has thrived is because buyers view purchasing and holding an NFT as a means to interact with and financially <a href="https://time.com/5947720/nft-art/">support the artist</a>.</p>
<p>More broadly, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/nfts-werent-supposed-end-like/618488/">the ethos</a> is one of decentralization, and NFT buyers are less likely to be enthusiastic about an intermediary joining the fray.</p>
<p>An example of the ethos built around supporting artists is the prevalence of <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/features/artists-nfts-control-market-1234591850/">smart contracts</a> that secure royalties for the artist that will flow every time an NFT tied to one of their works is sold. </p>
<p>In fact, the monetization often touted as the primary upside for museums seeking to jump into the NFT market may not be as simple as initially appears.</p>
<p>First, museums need to see whether monetizing their existing collections would in any way undermine public access to collections – potentially violating their missions and bylaws. Second, they must have protocols in place to ensure that proceeds from sales tied to the collection are correctly reinvested. And there’s a risk that this process could inadvertently lead to pieces of the collection being treated as financial instruments if income is being generated from them rather than solely serving as items on display for the public.</p>
<p>Moving forward, it remains to be seen whether NFTs will financially benefit brick-and-mortar museums, rather than creating new opportunities for virtual ones.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1429813414952640520"}"></div></p>
<h2>4. Volatility and uncertainty make NFTs risky</h2>
<p>Though the high prices they can fetch are eye-catching, there are countless cases of NFTs that <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/silent-crash-as-price-floors-collapse-across-nft-space">quickly become worthless</a>.</p>
<p>And, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-technology-business-bitcoin-862d03b59ab714e3230ce85ef8a7ed43">as with crypto-currencies</a>, there’s lots of volatility. The value of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-15/nfts-by-celebrities-like-grimes-john-cena-and-a-ap-rocky-fall-in-value">several NFTs have undergone massive</a> and dramatic losses, including ones issued by Grimes, A$AP Rocky and John Cena.</p>
<p>Relying on NFTs to raise cash may be risky, and the <a href="https://unframed.lacma.org/2021/08/30/nfts-and-museum-part-2-legal-issues-acquisitions">boards of museums</a> may determine that it’s inappropriate for their charitable organization to own them. That means museums may be forced to quickly liquidate any NFT they mint or receive – even if that sale will make the NFT less valuable to the institution.</p>
<p>Also, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about what valuable NFTs can do for an art museum’s primary goals. They are neither physical in nature nor works of art. Even digital artwork that can be displayed is separate from any NFT derived from it.</p>
<p>To be sure, NFTs are still new. Banks and other traditional financial institutions initially stood on the crypto-currency sidelines but have slowly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/business/banks-crypto-bitcoin.html">assumed a bigger role in those markets</a>. It is certainly possibly that something similar will occur with traditional institutions in the art world as the NFT market matures.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The people in charge of museums may lack the requisite expertise to manage non-fungible tokens, and the upside is far from guaranteed.
Brian Mittendorf, Fisher Designated Professor of Accounting, The Ohio State University
Sean Stein Smith, Assistant Professor of Economics and Business, Lehman College, CUNY
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/166722
2021-09-14T12:11:50Z
2021-09-14T12:11:50Z
A new platform lets you buy shares of blue-chip paintings – but is art a wise investment?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420368/original/file-20210909-19-inpevy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C519%2C2037%2C1324&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For as little as $20, you can now own a tiny piece of a valuable work of art.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/jigsaw-puzzle-of-mona-lisa-royalty-free-image/1200469246?adppopup=true">Yasuko Inoue/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the fall of 2018, a Banksy work, “Love is in the Bin,” sold for US$1.4 million.</p>
<p>Now the original buyer has put the work up for sale, and <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/entertainment/half-shredded-banksy-could-fetch-over-5-million-auction">it’s expected to fetch over $5 million</a> – that would amount to a return of more than 250% on the original investment.</p>
<p>What if, instead of the art market’s being the sole purview of the deep-pocketed, everyday people could buy shares of a pricy piece of art and sell the shares as they please?</p>
<p>That’s exactly what a new platform, <a href="https://www.masterworks.io/">Masterworks</a>, seeks to do.</p>
<p>Art investment funds have existed for over a century. Masterworks, however, has put a new twist on an old practice, in that the platform allows individuals to buy shares of specific artworks in $20 increments. Investors can then sell these shares in an easy-to-use secondary market or wait until Masterworks sells the piece and receive pro-rata proceeds. </p>
<p>For nearly 10 years, I’ve taught a course on economics and the arts with art historian <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/facultyguide/person.html?emplid=29480c4188ab17a9e5c4a1dbaeb99070c340dc45">Nancy Scott</a>. In this course, we spend time discussing the history and profitability of art investing, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OgC9yN0AAAAJ&hl=en">both in theory and in practice</a>.</p>
<p>For those thinking of purchasing art purely for investment purposes, it’s important to understand how art investment funds have traditionally worked, and whether experts believe it’s a good investment.</p>
<h2>The French pool their resources</h2>
<p>An early art investment fund was called <a href="https://medium.com/@lizziechatham/beginning-of-art-as-investment-98178090ec3c">The Skin of the Bear</a> (La Peau de l’Ours), which was based in France during the beginning of the 20th century. </p>
<p>The name comes from <a href="https://libquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine/quote/lbt3s1u">a French fable</a> that contains the aphorism “never sell the skin of the bear before you’ve actually killed it” – the French equivalent of “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” – and it alludes to the fact that investing in art can be a risky endeavor.</p>
<p>Partly intended as a means to support emerging post-impressionist artists, such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pablo-Picasso">Picasso</a>, <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/henri-matisse-1593">Matisse</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-computer-science-was-used-to-reveal-gauguins-printmaking-techniques-37733">Gauguin</a>, the fund was run as a syndicate in which a small number of partners each contributed identical amounts to purchase a collection of paintings.</p>
<p>Businessman, art critic and collector <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/libraries-and-research-centers/leonard-lauder-research-center/research/index-of-cubist-art-collectors/level">Andre Level</a> managed the fund and arranged the paintings’ sale. After the paintings were sold, he received <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/claytonpress/2017/10/24/artful-art-investment-the-skin-of-the-bear/?sh=31d2259d6988">20% of the sale price</a> for his work. The artists received 20% of the fund’s profits on top of the money they received from the original sale. The investors would then receive the rest in equal proportions. </p>
<p>This concept – returning a proportion of the sale price to the artist – is known as the droit de suite, or <a href="https://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2017/03/article_0001.html">artist’s resale right</a>. Versions of this are now law in most parts of the Western world other than the United States.</p>
<p>This first art fund was a success. It created demand for new artworks and supported innovative impressionist and modern artists, while providing a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/claytonpress/2017/10/24/artful-art-investment-the-skin-of-the-bear/?sh=2e5cff696988">sizable return to its original investors</a>. </p>
<h2>Not all funds are equal</h2>
<p>Another famous investment in art was made by the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB836529720395795000">British Rail Pension Fund</a>.</p>
<p>This fund was established in 1974 to manage a small proportion of the company’s employee retirement holdings, and the objective was to buy works of art over the course of 25 years before selling them off. The fund earned <a href="https://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2011/01/26/most-successful-art-fund-trailed-inflation/">11.3% in compound returns annually, but because of high inflation during much of that period</a>, the actual gains were much lower. </p>
<p><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691157887/art-of-the-deal">Other notable art funds ended up as failures</a>. Banque Nationale de Paris’ art fund sold its investment in 1999 at a loss and a fund run by British art dealer Taylor Jardine Ltd. did the same in 2003. Britain’s Department of Trade shut down The Barrington Fleming Art Fund in 2001 <a href="https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1553514/Victim-of-the-artful-dodgers.html">after determining it was set up under fraudulent circumstances</a>. And Fernwood Art Investments, founded by former Merrill Lynch manager Bruce Taub, failed to even launch after Taub <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/8m-embezzlement-suit-targets-fernwood-ceo-1625/">was found guilty of embezzling</a> his investors’ funds in 2006. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, there are art funds that are still in operation, such as <a href="http://www.anthea.art/fund/2/9/4">Anthea</a> and <a href="https://www.fineartgroup.com/en/services-2/investment-services/">The Fine Art Group</a>, and, of course, banks and auction houses have long described investing in art as <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/lu/en/pages/art-finance/solutions/art-wealth-management.html">a suitable diversification strategy for the wealthy</a>.</p>
<p>But what do economists say about art as an investment?</p>
<h2>Is it really a ‘floating crap game’?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevehanke/2017/06/30/the-art-markets-less-than-stellar-financial-returns/?sh=6bca69c71860">Economic theory</a> suggests that, by definition, investing in art could provide lower returns than investing in stocks. That’s because it’s thought of as a passion investment. Like investing in sports memorabilia, jewelry or coins, part of the return to investing in art ought to be the intrinsic enjoyment of the objects themselves. The total return consists of the monetary return and the enjoyment of ownership.</p>
<p>As stocks do not, for most people, provide this enjoyment value, the monetary returns to investing in these financial instruments should, in theory, be greater than the monetary returns to investing in art. </p>
<p>But it’s important to actually analyze the numbers.</p>
<p>One of the very first papers on the monetary return of art investing was <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1818726?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">published in 1986</a> and written by the late eminent economist William Baumol. </p>
<p>The title? “Unnatural Investment: Or Art as a Floating Crap Game.”</p>
<p>Baumol estimated the long-run inflation-adjusted returns to investing in art, over a 300-year period, to be just 0.6%. Some researchers have since estimated higher returns. For example, work by Yale finance professor <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2117568?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">Will Goetzmann</a> and economists <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3083271?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">Jiangping Mei and Mike Moses</a> found <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/i361465">inflation-adjusted returns of 2% over 250 years and 4.9% over 125 years</a>, respectively. Estimated returns vary based on the time period, sample and methodology. </p>
<p>Furthermore, these studies don’t include transaction fees, which, when it comes to art, can be sizable, thanks to the hefty commissions charged by the auction houses or private dealers for serving as the middlemen. They also don’t take into account sample selection; paintings that plummet in value often can’t be sold at auction. </p>
<p>Both the Goetzmann and the Mei and Moses studies, however, estimate that the performance of the stock market doesn’t seem to be correlated with returns on art investments. So there may be some benefit to investing in art as a way to diversify your portfolio.</p>
<h2>Art for all?</h2>
<p>Masterworks, however, is a bit different from the traditional art funds discussed above. Investors are buying shares of a single piece of art, rather than investing in a fund that includes multiple works. The price of entry is much lower, and, as long as there are willing buyers for the share of artwork, investors aren’t locked into the fund for a particular time period. Investors can earn a return just by selling shares that go up in value, without waiting for the artwork itself to be sold.</p>
<p>But like the traditional art funds, investors in shares of art sold by Masterworks will make money if the price of their artwork goes up, and lose their money if it goes down.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Masterworks seems innovative and fun. The format will likely appeal to a younger generation of investors, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/07/how-robinhood-and-covid-introduced-millions-to-the-stock-market.html">many of whom may have started investing small amounts</a> through apps such as <a href="https://robinhood.com/us/en/">Robinhood</a>. </p>
<p>The site is easy to navigate and could provide some enjoyment – even I was tempted to dabble in buying some shares. </p>
<p>But should you hope to get rich from investing in art? Probably not.</p>
<p>Furthermore, unlike Skin of the Bear, it doesn’t necessarily benefit emerging artists. Masterworks focuses on established works with a track record, by artists such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Banksy">Banksy</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/andy-warhol-still-surprises-30-years-after-his-death-73328">Andy Warhol</a> and <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cmon/hd_cmon.htm">Claude Monet</a>, to name a few. </p>
<p>That being said, Masterworks could bring investing in art to a mass audience. But, caveat emptor: Art is a risky investment. </p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Graddy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Art is a risky investment, with estimated long-run returns, on average, below stocks. But investing in artworks may provide diversification to an investment portfolio, as well as enjoyment.
Kathryn Graddy, Dean, Brandeis International Business School and Fred and Rita Richman Distinguished Professor in Economics, Brandeis University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/166958
2021-08-31T02:13:03Z
2021-08-31T02:13:03Z
Damien Hirst’s dotty ‘currency’ art makes as much sense as Bitcoin
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418351/original/file-20210830-27-hhs2y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4493%2C2297&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“<a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=%22art+of+making+money%22&search=Find+book">The Art of Making Money</a>” is the sort of book title you might see in an airport bookshop. But the (now not so) “<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/y/young-british-artists-ybas">Young British Artist</a>” Damien Hirst has taken it rather literally. </p>
<p>Hirst’s latest art project, called <a href="https://www.heni.com/">The Currency</a>, comprises 10,000 A4 sized pieces of handmade paper covered in very similar but not identical coloured spots. The back of each is numbered and signed by the artist with an arty title. Like actual contemporary bank notes, each also has a watermark, a microdot and a hologram to make it hard to forge. </p>
<p>The interesting twist is that Hirst has made this into an interesting experiment in the highly irrational economics of collectibles and blockchain technology.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-token-sale-christies-to-auction-its-first-blockchain-backed-digital-only-artwork-155738">A token sale: Christie's to auction its first blockchain-backed digital-only artwork</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Each painting has a digital certificate of ownership — a so-called non-fungible token (NFT). In fact, the buyers of each work have paid US$2,000 for the electronic token only. If they want the physical artwork, they must choose by July 21 2022 to trade in their token. If they do so the token will be destroyed. If they decide to keep the token, the artwork will be destroyed. They cannot have both. </p>
<p>Adding to the fun is the secondary trade in the NFTs — highlighting just how much of the art market is driven by money rather than love. The sale of all 10,000 works is worth $US20 million. But over the past month, since the artworks went on sale, there have been more than 1,800 resales, for almost US$40 million. The highest price paid so far is US$120,000, for No. 6272, titled “Yes”.</p>
<p>These secondary sales already give us some insight as to whether buyers will treat the artworks as essentially homogenous (or “fungible” in economic jargon). But other questions remain. How many buyers will prefer to have the physical artwork or the digital token? Will this preference differ between art lovers and speculators? Will the buyers wait until the last possible days to decide whether to convert to preserve the “<a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/cost-benefit-analysis-and-the-environment/quasi-option-value_9789264010055-11-en">option value</a>”? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/damien-hirsts-the-currency-what-well-discover-when-this-nft-art-project-is-over-164724">Damien Hirst's 'The Currency': what we'll discover when this NFT art project is over</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On one question, though, we can be most confident of the answer. Despite the art project’s name, these artworks don’t make very good currency. </p>
<h2>What makes a currency?</h2>
<p>For one thing they are not divisible. It would be hard to buy something worth a lot less than one of the paintings with them. One could rip a a sheet in half but, as with half a bank note, it’s unlikely anyone would consider the value of the two pieces anywhere near the original.</p>
<p>So while Hirst’s works have many of the attributes of actual currency, they still lack attributes critical to work as currency. In this sense they are similar to so-called “cryptocurrencies”. Even the two best-known, Bitcoin and Dogecoin, can barely be used to buy anything, because few merchants accept them. The <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/">thousands</a> of less well-known cryptocurrencies are even more useless for making payments. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vEsVJJy1od4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>The market for ‘the currency’</h2>
<p>The original sale of the artworks worked like an initial public offering of shares. Aspiring buyers could register and say how many they wanted (but not nominate which individual work). The offering was over-subscribed, as more than 30,000 people wanted more than 60,000 tokens (that is, three time the available number). </p>
<p>This demand has spilled over into a secondary electronic marketplace (managed by HENI, the company that handled the initial sales). The graph below shows these sales.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Secondary sales of Damien Hirst’s ‘Currency’ art works</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418378/original/file-20210830-15-l9nvxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418378/original/file-20210830-15-l9nvxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418378/original/file-20210830-15-l9nvxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418378/original/file-20210830-15-l9nvxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418378/original/file-20210830-15-l9nvxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418378/original/file-20210830-15-l9nvxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418378/original/file-20210830-15-l9nvxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://currency.nft.heni.com/stats">HENI</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>Almost 500 are currently listed for sale. Most of the recent sales were for about US$50,000, more than 20 times the original asking price. What makes one work worth more than another? That’s hard to say, though titles appear to play a big part. “Yes”, which exchanged hands for US$120,000, for example, is one of the few works with a one-word title.</p>
<h2>Valuing collectables</h2>
<p>Hirst’s experiment already highlights the strange economics of pricing collectables.</p>
<p>In economics the standard valuation technique “discounts” future values. It assumes a bird in the hand is worth more than one in the bush.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=215&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418368/original/file-20210830-31-1nz5tu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">These two Damien Hirst ‘Currency’ works sold within a hour of each other. ‘5083. Yeah, come on for a ride’, left, sold for US$45,966. ‘6307. We shall bring our own children’, right, sold for US$26,285.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://currency.nft.heni.com/stats">HENI</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>But art works and similar collectables are different. While some buy for love, speculators buy for money — on the assumption the value will be more in the future. The rationale is essentially the “<a href="https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/trading-investing/greater-fool-theory/">greater fool theory</a>” — the hope they can sell to another speculator at a higher price. That buyer in turn must expect someone else will pay even more. And so it goes on. Hirst’s experiment has so far demonstrated this graphically.</p>
<p>This often leads to a speculative bubble, which usually ends in tears. The price may collapse. As Isaac Newton ruefully remarked after after losing £20,000 in the South Sea Bubble of 1720: “I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nfts-hit-the-big-league-but-not-everyone-will-win-from-this-new-sports-craze-158762">NFTs hit the big league, but not everyone will win from this new sports craze</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>By coincidence, Hirst’s artworks are currently trading around the same price as one Bitcoin. </p>
<p>I think the paintings are at least pretty. And there’s the option at least to swap the NFT into a physical form the owner can hang on their wall. There are enough people who would like to do that to give this artful “currency” some underlying fundamental value. </p>
<p>That can’t be said of cryptocurrencies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Hawkins does not own any of 'the currency'. </span></em></p>
Like cryptocurrency, Damien Hirst ‘Currency’ artworks have many of the attributes of actual money.
John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society and NATSEM, University of Canberra
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/161735
2021-06-04T14:41:33Z
2021-06-04T14:41:33Z
The Hekking Mona Lisa – where the value of a painting, even a very good copy, lies
<p>The Mona Lisa, housed in the Louvre in Paris, has been copied many times. The most famous of those copies has to be the Hekking Mona Lisa, named after its previous owner, the antiquarian Raymond Hekking (1886-1977). It’s <a href="https://www.christies.com/about-us/press-archive/details?PressReleaseID=10098&lid=1">set to go on sale</a> at Christie’s auction house in Paris and is expected, at a conservative guess, to sell for around €200,000 to €300,000 (£170,00 to £260,000)</p>
<p>This estimate will probably be exceeded. Previous sales of such 17th-century copies of the Mona Lisa have fetched as much as <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/perhaps-even-a-leonardo-copy-shows-you-re-rich-and-cultured">US$1,695,000</a> (£1,195,000), as one version did in New York in March 2019. Another version sold in Paris in November 2019 for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-monalisa-idUSKBN1XT2B2">€552,500</a> and a third version at Christie’s Paris in the same year for €162,500. </p>
<p>The 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death was celebrated in 2019 with several prestigious exhibitions, so arguably the market for Leonardo images was at a fever pitch. However, the Mona Lisa, either as an original or through its numerous copies, means money at any time. </p>
<p>Of the many versions of the painting, few copies have a more fascinating history than the Hekking Mona Lisa. It offers a brilliant insight into changing attitudes over the centuries towards the perceived value of originality versus imitation.</p>
<h2>The ‘real’ deal?</h2>
<p>None of Leonardo’s works is more desirable than the Mona Lisa, which became the subject of arguably the most infamous of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/aug/05/mona-lisa-theft-louvre-leonardo">20th-century art heists</a>. In August 1911, Louvre employee Vincenzo Perugia stole the Mona Lisa. The painting was missing for two years before its recovery in Florence and its eventual return to the Louvre in 1913 after a triumphant tour of Italian museums. </p>
<p>The theft made papers all over the world and contributed exponentially to the painting’s fame.</p>
<p>In January 1963, amid much international attention, the Mona Lisa travelled to the United States and was shown to much acclaim in Washington DC and New York City. First Lady Jackie Kennedy had brokered the deal in 1961 and media attention on the Mona Lisa in the lead-up to its tour of America reached fever pitch. </p>
<p>It was in the middle of this that Raymond Hekking made the sensational claim that the Mona Lisa that the Louvre was preparing to send to America was not the original – but his was.</p>
<p>Hekking acquired his version of the Mona Lisa in the late 1950s from an art dealer in Nice, France, for around £3. He argued that the copy returned to the Louvre in 1913 was just another contemporary copy of the Mona Lisa.</p>
<p>Hekking turned out to be a genius communicator and masterminded an astonishingly prominent media campaign to get his Mona Lisa recognised as “THE” Mona Lisa. He invited the media to scrutinise his copy and <a href="https://www.britishpathe.com/video/mona-lisa-sensation">even produced a film</a> to support his claim. </p>
<h2>What’s in a reproduction?</h2>
<p>Hekking’s attempts to authenticate his version as the “real” Mona Lisa have since been disproved. His painting has been conclusively dated to the early 17th-century and attributed to an anonymous “Italian follower of Leonardo”. </p>
<p>All of this raises the question of where the value of an image lies anyway. </p>
<p>For collectors during the early modern period (around 1500-1800), the value of an artefact did not necessarily lie in the fact that the artist made the image themselves. Rather they valued having a copy of an iconic image. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crowd of tourists in front of Mona Lisa on gallery wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404519/original/file-20210604-17-1ab4xkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404519/original/file-20210604-17-1ab4xkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404519/original/file-20210604-17-1ab4xkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404519/original/file-20210604-17-1ab4xkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404519/original/file-20210604-17-1ab4xkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404519/original/file-20210604-17-1ab4xkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404519/original/file-20210604-17-1ab4xkt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ‘real’ Mona Lisa at Louvre, Paris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/paris-france-may-25-2016-many-576272251">Takashi Images/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s important to remember that historically there were fewer images and they were less readily accessible. Seeing an artwork may have required travel to the place where it was kept, and access to the image may have depended on the owner permitting you entry. Ownership of even a copy of a coveted image meant status and privilege and conferred significant cultural kudos on the collector. </p>
<p>Many artefacts were produced in workshops with the help of multiple assistants (as opposed to by a single artist) but this mattered little. It is quite helpful to think of those workshops in the same way as we would think of as a designer’s studio today. Works coming from that studio carry the brand of the artist but may not necessarily have been designed, created or executed by the hand of the master. </p>
<p>And still, it’s worth being associated with the brand because the imprint of and association with the artist is what matters and what gave value to the owner of the artefact. This is especially so when the creation of multiples meant copying by hand, producing versions that were each unique in their own right.</p>
<h2>Copies in the age of mechanical reproduction</h2>
<p>But now we live in an age where we can all see any artwork reproduced online or through techniques like photography, screen printing or engraving, does that decrease the value of a copy or reproduction?</p>
<p>The German philosopher Walter Benjamin was the first to try and unpick these debates. In his article <a href="https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf">The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction</a>, Benjamin made the point that an original artwork possesses an irreproducible and inimitable “aura” of uniqueness, which is not present in a mechanical reproduction and therefore reduces its value. </p>
<p>But he also emphasised that any artwork has “artistic authenticity”, and that makes it important because it reflects the intentions of the patron who wanted to possess the image and the role of the artist who made it on demand for that patron. In other words, what Benjamin here outlines is why a work such as the Hekking Mona Lisa is so important. It has a story all uniquely its own, and that confers value on it.</p>
<p>There’s more then to the Hekking Mona Lisa than being just another Leonardo copy. The Hekking Mona Lisa is not a mechanical reproduction but an authentic 17th-century copy of an iconic image, and it has spades of cultural authority and stories of its own. If there ever has been an image that invites debates about the value of copies, and reflections about authenticity, well, they are encapsulated by the Hekking Mona Lisa. And that will undoubtedly be reflected in the price tag this image will fetch at auction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabriele Neher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s work is set to fetch a lot at auction. But why would a fake cost so much?
Gabriele Neher, Associate Professor in History of Art, University of Nottingham
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157115
2021-03-15T12:58:55Z
2021-03-15T12:58:55Z
Why would anyone buy crypto art – let alone spend millions on what’s essentially a link to a JPEG file?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389379/original/file-20210313-23-ezvdf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2169%2C0%2C2410%2C1592&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Since so much our social lives are lived online, maybe it makes sense for our art collections to reside online, too.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/web-royalty-free-illustration/1162714011?adppopup=true">Ihor Melnyk via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZcWO2AEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">academic researcher</a>, developer of artistic technology and amateur artist, I was quite skeptical about crypto art when <a href="https://www.artnome.com/news/2018/1/14/what-is-cryptoart">I first read about it several years ago</a>. </p>
<p>However, I follow a community of artists on social media, and some of the artists there whom I respect, like Mario Klingemann and Jason Bailey, <a href="https://twitter.com/quasimondo/status/1310612476011175936?s=20">embraced</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/artnome/status/1310614348260352000?s=20">advocated for</a> crypto art. Within the past few months, activity and prices seemed to snowball. I started thinking it deserves to be taken seriously. </p>
<p>Then the Beeple sale happened.</p>
<p>On March 11, Beeple, a computer science graduate whose real name is Mike Winkelmann, auctioned a piece of crypto art at Christie’s <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/03/11/976141522/beeple-jpg-file-sells-for-69-million-setting-crypto-art-record">for US$69 million</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1370468587320836099"}"></div></p>
<p>The winning bidder is now named in a digital record that confers ownership. This record, called a <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/explained-non-fungible-tokens-nfts-010049576.html">nonfungible token</a>, or NFT, is stored in a shared global database. This database is decentralized using blockchain, so that no single individual or company controls the database. As long as the specific blockchain survives in the world, anyone can read or access it, and no one can change it.</p>
<p>But “ownership” of crypto art confers no actual rights, other than being able to say that you own the work. You don’t own the copyright, you don’t get a physical print, and anyone can look at the image on the web. There is merely a record in a public database saying that you own the work – really, it says you own the work at a specific URL.</p>
<p>So why would anyone buy crypto art – let alone spend millions on what’s essentially a link to a JPEG file?</p>
<h2>Art is inherently social</h2>
<p>It might be helpful to think about crypto art in the context of why people buy original works of art. </p>
<p>Some people buy art for their homes, hoping to incorporate it into their living spaces for pleasure and inspiration. </p>
<p>But art also plays many important social roles. The art in your home communicates your interests and tastes. Artworks can spark conversation, whether they’re in museums or homes. People form communities around their passion for the arts, whether it’s through museums and galleries, or magazines and websites. Buying work supports the artists and the arts.</p>
<p>Then there are collectors. People get into collecting all sorts of things – model trains, commemorative plates, rare vinyl LPs, sports memorabilia – and, like other collectors, art collectors are passionate about trying to hunt down those rare pieces.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most visible form of art collecting today, and the one that drives so much public discussion about art, is the art purchased for millions of dollars – the pieces by <a href="http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1917097_1917096_1917100,00.html">Picasso</a> and <a href="https://www.clc.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/?p=391">Damien Hirst</a> traded by the ultrawealthy. This is still social: Whether they’re at Sotheby’s auctions or museum board dinners, wealthy art collectors mingle, meet and talk about who bought what.</p>
<p>Finally, I think many people buy art strictly as an investment, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-42011989">hoping that it will appreciate in value</a>.</p>
<h2>Is crypto art really that different?</h2>
<p>If you look at the reasons people buy art, only one of them – buying art for your home – has to do with the physical work. </p>
<p>Every other reason for buying art that I listed could apply to crypto art. </p>
<p>You can build your own virtual gallery online and share it with other people online. You can convey your tastes and interests through your virtual gallery and support artists by buying their work. You can participate in a community: Some crypto artists, who have felt excluded by the mainstream art world, say they <a href="https://twitter.com/MattKaneArtist/status/1370396745851605008?s=20">have found more support in the crypto community</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/missalsimpson/status/1369798571747389443">can now earn a living making art</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1369798571747389443"}"></div></p>
<p>While Beeple’s big sale made headlines, most crypto art sales are much more affordable, in the tens or hundreds of dollars. This supports a much larger community than just a select few artists. <a href="https://twitter.com/artnome/status/1356708775915384838?s=20">And some resale values have gone up</a>. </p>
<h2>Value as a social construct</h2>
<p>Aside from the visual pleasure of physical objects, nearly all the value art offers is, in some way, a social construct. This does not mean that art is interchangeable, or that the historical significance and technical skill of a <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/rembrandt-master-printmaker-cincinnati-art-museum/uQKi73GQ6NY4IQ?hl=en">Rembrandt</a> is imaginary. It means that the value we place on these attributes is a choice. </p>
<p>When someone pays <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/arts/jeff-koons-rabbit-auction.html">$90 million for a metal balloon animal made by Jeff Koons</a>, it’s hard to believe that the work has that much “intrinsic” value. Even if the materials and craftsmanship are quite good, surely some of those millions are simply buying the right to say “I bought a Koons. And I spent a lot of money on it.” If you just want an artfully made metal balloon animal, there are cheaper ways to get one.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two people take photographs with their smartphones of a banana taped to a wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389373/original/file-20210313-15-5d6ity.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389373/original/file-20210313-15-5d6ity.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389373/original/file-20210313-15-5d6ity.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389373/original/file-20210313-15-5d6ity.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389373/original/file-20210313-15-5d6ity.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389373/original/file-20210313-15-5d6ity.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389373/original/file-20210313-15-5d6ity.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Comedian’ displayed at Art Basel Miami in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-post-in-front-of-maurizio-cattelans-comedian-news-photo/1186756719?adppopup=true">Cindy Ord/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conversely, the conceptual art tradition has long separated the object itself from the value of the work. Maurizio Cattelan <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/maurizio-cattelan-banana-explained-1732773">sold a banana taped to a wall for six figures, twice</a>; the value of the work was not in the banana or in the duct tape, nor in the way that the two were attached, but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/arts/design/a-critics-defense-of-cattelan-banana-.html">in the story and drama around the work</a>. Again, the buyers weren’t really buying a banana, they were buying the right to say they “owned” this artwork.</p>
<p>Depending on your point of view, crypto art could be the ultimate manifestation of conceptual art’s separation of the work of art from any physical object. It is pure conceptual abstraction, applied to ownership.</p>
<p>On the other hand, crypto art could be seen as reducing art to the purest form of buying and selling for conspicuous consumption. </p>
<p>In Victor Pelevin’s satirical novel “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/286440/homo-zapiens-by-victor-pelevin/">Homo Zapiens</a>,” the main character visits an art exhibition where only the names and sale prices of the works are shown. When he says he doesn’t understand – where are the paintings themselves? – it becomes clear that this isn’t the point. Buying and selling is more important than the art. </p>
<p>This story was satire. But crypto art takes this one step further. If the point of ownership is to be able to say you own the work, why bother with anything but a receipt?</p>
<h2>Manufacturing scarcity</h2>
<p>It still seems hard to get used to the idea of spending money for nothing tangible. </p>
<p>Would anyone pay money for NFTs that say they “own” the Brooklyn Bridge or the whole of the Earth or the concept of love? People can create all the NFTs they want about anything, over and over again. I could make my own NFT claiming that I own the Mona Lisa, and record it to the blockchain, and no one could stop me.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1369503225112522755"}"></div></p>
<p>But I think this misses the point.</p>
<p>In crypto art, there is an implicit contract that what you’re buying is unique. The artist makes only one of these tokens, and the one right you get when you buy crypto art is to say that you own that work. No one else can. Note, though, that this is not a legal right, nor is there any enforcement other than social mores. Nonetheless, the value comes from the artist creating scarcity.</p>
<p>This is the same thing that’s happened in the art world <a href="https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-specialist-buying-limited-editions">ever since photographers and printmakers had to figure out how to sell their work</a>. In the world of photography, a limited-edition print is considered more valuable than an unlimited edition; the fewer prints in the edition, the more valuable they are. Knowing that you have one of a few prints personally made and signed by the artist gives you an emotional connection to the artist that a mass-produced print doesn’t.</p>
<p>This connection could be even weaker in digital art. But what you are buying is still, in part, a connection with the artist. Artists sometimes <a href="https://twitter.com/MattKaneArtist/status/1370059188660011009?s=20">publicly tweet their thanks to their crypto art patrons</a>, which may strengthen this emotional connection.</p>
<h2>A bubble bound to burst?</h2>
<p>Personally, I want to buy only art I can hang on my walls, so I have no interest in buying crypto art. There are also environmental costs. <a href="https://memoakten.medium.com/the-unreasonable-ecological-cost-of-cryptoart-2221d3eb2053">Certain blockchains used for crypto art are really bad for the climate</a>, because they require computations that consume staggering amounts of energy.</p>
<p>That said, if buying it right now gives you pleasure – and you enjoy sharing what you’ve bought and the community around it and you’re using <a href="https://github.com/memo/eco-nft/">a more environmentally friendly blockchain</a> – that’s great.</p>
<p>If you’re buying it for some future reward, however, that’s risky. Will people care about your personal virtual gallery in the future? Will you care? Will crypto art even be a thing in a few years?</p>
<p>As an investment, it just seems inconceivable to me that the higher prices reflect true value, in the sense of these works having higher resale value in the long term. As in the traditional art world, there are a lot more works being sold than could ever possibly be considered significant in a generation’s time. </p>
<p>And, in the crypto world, we’re seeing highly volatile prices, a sudden frenzy of interest, and huge sums being paid for things that seem, on the surface, not to have the slightest bit of value at all, such as <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/9/22321464/jack-dorsey-nft-tweet-auction-bitcoin-donate-charity">the $2.5 million bid to “own” Jack Dorsey’s first tweet</a> or even the <a href="https://opensea.io/assets/0x495f947276749ce646f68ac8c248420045cb7b5e/34250611840767046457364755162887744273167171110707576795476315639371094032385">$1,000 bid on a photo of a cease-and-desist letter about NFTs</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/13/technology/crypto-art-NFTs-trading-cards-investment-manias.html">Much of this energy seems to be driven by price speculation</a>. It’s also worth noting that <a href="https://amycastor.com/2021/03/14/metakovan-the-mystery-beeple-art-buyer-and-his-nft-defi-scheme/">the winner of the Beeple auction seems to be heavily invested in the success of crypto art</a>. The cryptocurrencies that drive crypto art are often considered highly speculative.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that, right now, there’s a big NFT bubble. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>There have been lots of bubbles before – <a href="https://www.history.com/news/tulip-mania-financial-crash-holland">tulips</a>, <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2010/03/the-great-baseball-card-bubble.html">baseball cards</a>, <a href="https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2015/03/02/beanie-baby-bubble">Beanie Babies</a> – objects that were flying off the shelves one year and then piled up in landfills the next. And, in a bubble, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/business/gamestop-stock-losses.html?searchResultPosition=9">a few headline-making winners get rich, while a whole lot of others lose their shirts</a>. Even if crypto art lasts, maybe the particular artist or platform where you’re buying won’t be popular in the future.</p>
<p>My feelings about crypto art aside, I do believe that art is, fundamentally, a social activity. The more our social lives are lived online, the more it may make sense for some people to have their art collections online, too – whether or not blockchain is involved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron Hertzmann works for Adobe Research, however, opinions expressed here are solely his own.
</span></em></p>
If you look at the reasons people buy art, almost none of them have to do with the physical work.
Aaron Hertzmann, Affiliate Faculty of Computer Science, University of Washington
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/156389
2021-03-04T23:01:26Z
2021-03-04T23:01:26Z
NFTs explained: what they are, why rock stars are using them, and why they’re selling for millions of dollars
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387650/original/file-20210304-20-5gtepu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C1915%2C1059&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Still from 'Mars' by Grimes x Mac.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://niftygateway.com/itemdetail/secondary/0xe04cc101c671516ac790a6a6dc58f332b86978bb/11600020008">Grimes x Mac</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A couple of days ago, the musician Grimes sold some <a href="https://niftygateway.com/profile/grimes">animations</a> she made with her brother Mac on a website called Nifty Gateway. Some were one-offs, while others were limited editions of a few hundred – and all were <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/1/22308075/grimes-nft-6-million-sales-nifty-gateway-warnymph">snapped up </a>in about 20 minutes, with total takings of more than US$6 million.</p>
<p>Despite the steep price tag, anybody can watch or (with a simple right-click) save a copy of the videos, which show a cherub ascending over <a href="https://niftygateway.com/itemdetail/secondary/0xe04cc101c671516ac790a6a6dc58f332b86978bb/11600020008">Mars</a>, <a href="https://niftygateway.com/itemdetail/primary/0xe04cc101c671516ac790a6a6dc58f332b86978bb/1">Earth</a>, and <a href="https://niftygateway.com/itemdetail/primary/0x948b3515d81034a3c16d5393c6c155946c93c103/1">imaginary landscapes</a>. Rather than a copy of the files themselves, the eager buyers received a special kind of tradable certificate called a “non-fungible token” or NFT. But what they were really paying for was an aura of authenticity – and the ability to one day sell that aura of authenticity to somebody else.</p>
<p>NFTs are a cultural answer to creating technical scarcity on the internet, and they allow new types of digital goods. They are making inroads into the realms of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-token-sale-christies-to-auction-its-first-blockchain-backed-digital-only-artwork-155738">high art</a>, <a href="https://variety.com/2021/music/news/kings-of-leon-release-new-album-nft-1234921278/#!">rock music</a> and even new mass-markets of <a href="https://crypnews.com.au/nba-top-shot-leads-nft-explosion-with-230m-in-sales/">virtual NBA trading cards</a>. In the process, they are also <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/beeple-nft-artwork-nifty-gateway-sale-1234584701/">making certain people rich</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-token-sale-christies-to-auction-its-first-blockchain-backed-digital-only-artwork-155738">A token sale: Christie's to auction its first blockchain-backed digital-only artwork</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How NFTs work</h2>
<p>NFTs are digital certificates that authenticate a claim of ownership to an asset, and allow it to be transferred or sold. The certificates are secured with blockchain technology similar to what underpins Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.</p>
<p>A blockchain is a decentralised <a href="https://hackernoon.com/databases-and-blockchains-the-difference-is-in-their-purpose-and-design-56ba6335778b">alternative to a central database</a>. Blockchains usually store information in encrypted form across a peer-to-peer network, which makes them very difficult to hack or tamper with. This in turn makes them useful for keeping important records. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blockchain-is-useful-for-a-lot-more-than-just-bitcoin-58921">Blockchain is useful for a lot more than just Bitcoin</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The key difference between NFTs and cryptocurrencies is that currencies allow fungible trade, which means anyone can create Bitcoins that can be exchanged for other Bitcoins. NFTs are by definition non-fungible, and are deployed as individual chains of ownership to track a specific asset. NFTs are designed to uniquely restrict and represent a unique claim on an asset. </p>
<p>And here’s where things get weird. Often, NFTs are used to claim “ownership” of a digital asset that is otherwise completely copiable, pastable and shareable – such as a movie, JPEG or other digital file.</p>
<h2>So what is an authentic original digital copy?</h2>
<p>Online, it’s hard to say what <em>authenticity</em> and <em>ownership</em> really mean. Internet culture and the internet itself have been driven by copying, pasting and remixing to engender new forms of <a href="http://www.illegal-art.net/allday/">authentic creative work</a>. </p>
<p>At a technical level, the internet is precisely a system for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_protocol_suite">efficiently and openly</a> taking a string of ones and zeroes from <em>this</em> computer and making them accessible on a <em>that</em> computer, somewhere else. Content available online is typically what economists call “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivalry_(economics)#Non-rivalry">non-rivalrous goods</a>”, which means that one person watching or sharing or remixing a file doesn’t in any way impede other people from the doing the same.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387901/original/file-20210304-16-s12s7p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387901/original/file-20210304-16-s12s7p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387901/original/file-20210304-16-s12s7p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387901/original/file-20210304-16-s12s7p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387901/original/file-20210304-16-s12s7p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387901/original/file-20210304-16-s12s7p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387901/original/file-20210304-16-s12s7p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Producer 3LAU raised US$11.6 million on an NFT auction around his latest album. The top bidder received a ‘custom song created by 3LAU with winner’s creative direction’, an NFT for each track on the album, unreleased music, and even a physical copy on vinyl.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nft.3lau.com/#/auction">3LAU</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Constant sharing adds up to a near-infinite array of material to view, share, copy or remix into something new, creating the <a href="https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/34556">economies of abundance</a> on which online culture thrives. </p>
<p>TikTok is built around reimagining common audio loops with seemingly endless but unique <a href="https://culturalscience.org/articles/10.5334/csci.140/">accompanying visual rituals</a>, which are themselves mimicked in seemingly endless variations. On Twitter, tweets are only valuable to the extent they are retweeted. Fake news only <em>exists</em> insofar as <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-business-model-of-social-media-giants-like-facebook-is-incompatible-with-human-rights-94016">Facebook’s algorithm</a> decides sharing them will increase engagement via driving more sharing.</p>
<h2>Information wants to be free</h2>
<p>The life and longevity of digital content has depended on its ability to <a href="https://spreadablemedia.org">spread</a>. The internet’s pioneering cyber-libertarians had a motto to describe this: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_wants_to_be_free">information wants to be free</a>. Attempts to stop information spreading online have historically required breaking aspects of technology <a href="https://theconversation.com/governments-undermining-encryption-will-do-more-harm-than-good-53038">(like encryption)</a> or <a href="https://www.copyright.org.au">legal regimes</a> like copyright. </p>
<p>NFTs, however, bring code and culture together to create a form of control that doesn’t rely on the law or sabotaging existing systems. They create a unique kind of “authenticity” in a otherwise shareable world.</p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>Nearly 40 years ago, Canadian science-fiction writer William Gibson famously described cyberspace as a “<a href="http://www.columbia.edu/%7Eey2172/gibson.html">consensual hallucination</a>” in which billions of users agreed that the online world was real. NFTs take this to the next level: they’re a consensual hallucination that <em>this</em> string of ones and zeroes is different and more authentic than <em>that</em> (identical) string of ones and zeroes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387631/original/file-20210304-13-1kgm6u2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/387631/original/file-20210304-13-1kgm6u2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387631/original/file-20210304-13-1kgm6u2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387631/original/file-20210304-13-1kgm6u2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387631/original/file-20210304-13-1kgm6u2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387631/original/file-20210304-13-1kgm6u2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/387631/original/file-20210304-13-1kgm6u2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The animation CROSSROADS by Beeple can be viewed online for free – but the NFT independently conferring ownership of the work recently changed hands for US$6.6 million.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://niftygateway.com/itemdetail/secondary/0x12f28e2106ce8fd8464885b80ea865e98b465149/100010001">Beeple</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>NFTs work by reintroducing a mutual hallucination of scarcity into a world of abundance. There is no shortage of buyers: the NFT market is already worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Even humble <a href="https://www.nbatopshot.com/about">sports trading cards</a> will never be the same.</p>
<h2>Are NFTs different enough to break the internet?</h2>
<p>The real function of NFTs is to create a clear delineation between ordinary creators and consumers of online content and those privileged enough to be paid to produce content or claim to own “authentic” work. The internet decentralised content creation, but NFTs are trying to recentralise the distribution of culture.</p>
<p>NFTs facilitate the exchange of fungible money for non-fungible authenticity. It’s a <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=advertising+authenticity&btnG=">well-known move</a> that occurs in all sorts of industries, and one with a long history in, well, <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/comment/the-nft-craze-encapsulates-the-absurdity-of-the-art-world-and-its-obsession-with-authenticity">art history</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-gamestop-the-rise-of-dogecoin-shows-us-how-memes-can-move-markets-154470">After GameStop, the rise of Dogecoin shows us how memes can move markets</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>How the culture-code of NFTs will evolve is <a href="https://dontbuymeme.com">anyone’s guess</a>, but at the moment, it is opening a lot of new ways to make <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-gamestop-the-rise-of-dogecoin-shows-us-how-memes-can-move-markets-154470">new money</a> change hands. </p>
<p>At first take, it might seem that this presents artists everywhere with a recourse to get paid for their otherwise copy-pastable work. Yet creating normative rules around paying for content online has not so far gone smoothly: think of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/stream-weavers-the-musicians-dilemma-in-spotifys-pay-to-play-plan-151479">lacklustre payments</a> musicians receive from streaming services like Spotify.</p>
<p>NFTs have also been <a href="https://memoakten.medium.com/the-unreasonable-ecological-cost-of-cryptoart-2221d3eb2053">criticised</a> for their profligate energy consumption, because they depend on a lot of computer power to encrypt their tokens. According to the online calculator at <a href="http://cryptoart.wtf">CryptoArt</a>, the computations required to create NFTs for each of Grimes’ animations would have used enough electricity to boil a kettle 1.5 million times – and resulted in around 70 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. I’m not sure that cost for future generations was priced into the current market value, or any appreciation as tokens cryptographically change hands.</p>
<p>Other than their tonnes of CO₂ emissions, what’s real about NFTs is how their creation of technical scarcity enables a new cultural agreement about how something can be authentic and who controls that authenticity. NFTs create new forms of hierarchy, power and exclusion on the wider web. They have already created a new type of haves and have-nots.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156389/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luke Heemsbergen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The digital tokens are a way to create scarcity and an aura of authenticity in an online world of infinite copying, pasting and remixing.
Luke Heemsbergen, PhD, Media and Politics, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/143827
2020-08-24T03:00:46Z
2020-08-24T03:00:46Z
Australians’ favourites show Aboriginal art can transcend social divisions and art boundaries
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353997/original/file-20200821-24-1pv23t4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C7146%2C5108&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Albert Namatjira's Hermannsburg (c.1951)</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Gallery of Australia/Namatjira Legacy Trust</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New analysis shows landscape art is the most popular visual art genre among Australians, with Aboriginal art coming in second place, followed by portraits and modern art. </p>
<p>But Aboriginal art is more likely to bridge social divides and can dissolve personal prejudices between different kinds of art. </p>
<p>Many Australians are sharply divided as to whether they prefer more traditional genres like landscapes or more contemporary and abstract visual forms. And these divisions relate to differences in age, class and education. But Aboriginal art bucks this trend because it is seen as “telling a story”. </p>
<p>The research is discussed in a new book called <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Fields-Capitals-Habitus-Australian-Culture-Inequalities-and-Social/Bennett-Carter-Gayo-Kelly-Noble/p/book/9781138392304">Fields, Capitals, Habitus: Australian Culture, Social Divisions and Inequalities</a>. </p>
<h2>We know what (and who) we like</h2>
<p>Researchers conducted a <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/story_archive/2018/research_shows_social_class_has_a_strong_influence_on_cultural_tastes">national survey of Australians’ cultural tastes</a>, administering surveys to 1,202 Australians. Extra samples to ensure representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Italian, Lebanese, Chinese, and Indian Australians, brought the overall survey total to 1,461. </p>
<p>Researchers subsequently <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-13/what-your-habits-reveal-about-your-social-class/9610658?nw=0">partnered with the ABC</a> to conduct online surveys on cultural tastes that were compared with research findings. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351708/original/file-20200807-14-nrx18d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Book cover shows title and graffiti of Indigenous child's face on underpass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351708/original/file-20200807-14-nrx18d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351708/original/file-20200807-14-nrx18d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351708/original/file-20200807-14-nrx18d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351708/original/file-20200807-14-nrx18d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351708/original/file-20200807-14-nrx18d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351708/original/file-20200807-14-nrx18d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351708/original/file-20200807-14-nrx18d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1068&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.routledge.com/common/jackets/amazon/978113839/9781138392304.jpg">Routledge</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aboriginal art was the second most popular genre, liked by 26% of the main sample, behind landscapes (52%) but ahead of portraits (24%) and modern art (17%). </p>
<p>Impressionism and Renaissance art came in at around 15% each, while abstract art, colonial art, Pop art and still lifes ranged, in order, from 13% down to 7%.</p>
<p>Survey respondents were <a href="https://theconversation.com/tom-roberts-anyone-a-national-survey-finds-the-line-in-art-appreciation-51301">given a selection of artists</a> and asked to say whether they had heard of and liked them. Indigenous landscape painter <a href="https://manyhandsart.com.au/about/albert-namatjira/">Albert Namatjira</a> was the third most familiar but, at 63%, he was only narrowly pipped by painter <a href="http://www.sidneynolantrust.org/about/sidney-nolan">Sidney Nolan</a> (67%) and the colourful <a href="https://kendone.com.au/">Ken Done</a> (68%). Indigenous multi-media artist Tracey Moffatt was less well known (14%). But Namatjira was the most popular of all, liked by 49% ahead of both Nolan (42%) and Done (40%).</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were much more enthusiastic about Aboriginal art (67%) and Namatjira (liked by 70%) than the main sample, but not notably so for Moffatt. Indian and Lebanese Australians also showed a marked liking for Aboriginal art at 38% and 36% respectively.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dramatic-and-engaging-new-exhibition-linear-celebrates-the-art-in-indigenous-science-127023">Dramatic and engaging, new exhibition Linear celebrates the art in Indigenous science</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Aboriginal art had a broader cross-class appeal than most genres. It did, however, appeal more strongly to those in intermediate (such self-employed and clerical workers) and professional and managerial occupational classes than to those in skilled or unskilled working-class occupations. </p>
<p>Namatjira was most popular with the older members of Australia’s intermediate classes. Moffatt, by contrast, appealed most to the younger, tertiary educated Australians in professional and managerial occupations.</p>
<p>There were clear correlations between these preferences for particular Indigenous artists and genre tastes. Those who liked Namatjira preferred traditional and largely figurative genres – landscapes, still lifes, and portraits. Those who liked Moffatt favoured genres tending towards abstraction or critical engagements with figurative conventions – modern art, Pop art and abstract art.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353999/original/file-20200821-16-1hz7los.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Colourful houses on a hill" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353999/original/file-20200821-16-1hz7los.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353999/original/file-20200821-16-1hz7los.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353999/original/file-20200821-16-1hz7los.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353999/original/file-20200821-16-1hz7los.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353999/original/file-20200821-16-1hz7los.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353999/original/file-20200821-16-1hz7los.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/353999/original/file-20200821-16-1hz7los.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Selling Aluminium Siding 1978 (2008) – a work by Tracey Moffatt in her First Jobs series.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NGA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The great divide … and a bridge</h2>
<p>A key finding of the research was how much those who liked traditional and figurative genres disliked contemporary and abstract genres. The reverse was even more true: those who liked contemporary and abstract art often had a strong aversion to traditional and figurative art. </p>
<p>Yet the category of Aboriginal art often crossed the boundaries between these two groups of genres. </p>
<p>This is not entirely surprising. Aboriginal art has expanded beyond its traditional forms to include acrylic dot art, contemporary urban Aboriginal art practices, rock art, or the kitsch forms of “Aboriginalia” like that collected by Tony Albert.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yPbd808PUiU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Tony Albert says “Aboriginalia” changes dramatically with context.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what is surprising is how frequently, when discussing their art tastes in follow-up interviews, our survey respondents treated Aboriginal art as an exceptional art form. </p>
<p>While most viewed it as a form of abstraction, it was seen as a purposeful abstraction with a story to tell, crossing the boundaries between the abstract and the figurative. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mavis-ngallametta-review-a-bittersweet-collection-of-a-songwomans-stories-of-home-133152">Mavis Ngallametta review - a bittersweet collection of a songwoman's stories of home</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>It was on these grounds that Aboriginal art was let off the hook by those who usually disliked non-figurative art. This was pithily summarised by one respondent who, dismissing modern and abstract art as “equivalent to what my daughters would do in kindergarten”, praised the “uniqueness of Aboriginal art and the dots” because “there’s stories behind it – there is the story they are trying to tell”.</p>
<p>This was a recurring theme in appreciations of Namatjira. In a follow up interview, one survey respondent – a professional in a high-level executive role – liked Namatjira’s work for not being “too abstract” in its depiction of “the beauty of the bush and the country”. </p>
<p>For another, a part-time accountant and labourer, Namatjira served as a counter to his dislike of modern and abstract art because his paintings are “real … they just feel like he’s telling a story in his pictures and they’re real”.</p>
<p>And a third, a woman in her 30s from a Sri Lankan background, expressed her appreciation of Namatjira and Moffatt in similar terms. She loved “Tracey’s storytelling” with its “strong style and voice”, emphasising its appeal to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous women, while singling out the “cultural connections” that Namatjira’s work makes.</p>
<p>While, then, different kinds of Aboriginal art appeal to different publics, the category of Aboriginal art is one that recruits a broader interest. We got a strong sense that it is something that non-Indigenous Australians felt they ought to like and know more about because of what it has to say about Indigenous culture, its relations to Country, and its significance for Australian culture and identity. </p>
<p>This registers a significant shift from the terms in which Namatjira was initially appreciated, in the 1950s, as <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/ces/386">an imitative adaptation</a> of pastoral modernism.</p>
<p>It is a shift that registers the work of Indigenous artists, curators and critics in stressing the role that Aboriginal art can play in transforming the relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-politics-of-dancing-and-thinking-about-cultural-values-beyond-dollars-139839">Friday essay: the politics of dancing and thinking about cultural values beyond dollars</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Australian Cultural Fields: National and Transnational Dynamics project discussed in this article was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council (DP140101970). We therefore express our appreciation of this support. The grant for this project was awarded to Tony Bennett (Project Director), David Carter, Modesto Gayo, Michelle Kelly (Senior Research Officer and Project Manager), Fred Myers, Greg Noble, David Rowe, Tim Rowse, Deborah Stevenson, Graeme Turner and Emma Waterton.
Tony Bennett is affiliated with the Australian Labor Party.</span></em></p>
Asking Australians about their favourite art and artists reveals divides between those who like traditional versus contemporary forms. But Indigenous art transcends such categories.
Tony Bennett, Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/141314
2020-06-24T06:58:24Z
2020-06-24T06:58:24Z
Staff cuts will hurt the National Gallery of Australia, but it’s not spending less on art. It’s just spending it differently
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343636/original/file-20200624-132410-1y4qvr7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5419%2C3042&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thennicke/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On September 10 1965, Sir Robert Menzies commissioned the <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22publications%2Ftabledpapers%2FHPP052016000736%22;src1=sm1">National Art Gallery Committee of Inquiry</a> to consider the establishment of a national gallery for Australia.</p>
<p>The resulting <a href="https://nga.gov.au/collection/pdfs/acquisitionsstatementofintent.pdf">Lindsay Report</a>, published in 1966, is an ambitious document, describing an art gallery to serve the nation through the quality and range of its collections and exhibitions. </p>
<p>It emphasised the need to have an all encompassing collection of Australian art. The report recognised, in the second half of the 20th century, it was not possible to acquire a significant collection from European art history and advised a focus on modern art, including from Indigenous Australian artists, south and east Asia, and the Pacific Islands.</p>
<p>James Mollison became the gallery’s first director and began collecting work in 1971, construction began in 1973, and the National Gallery of Australia <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/116475320">finally opened</a> in 1982. The Lindsay Report was most recently reviewed in 2017, and is still the guiding document for the gallery’s foundation and continuing collection policies.</p>
<p>Menzies <a href="https://www.humanities.org.au/2019/06/24/50-years-on-a-golden-moment-for-the-australian-academy-of-the-humanities/">understood</a> a culture that supported the arts and the humanities was essential to Australia’s development. Although his aesthetic taste was conservative, often described as reactionary, he greatly valued the arts. </p>
<p>For many years, his successors showed equal enthusiasm for seeing the National Art Gallery grow into international prominence. </p>
<p>Now, with subsequent efficiency dividends, the gallery is facing a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/23/national-gallery-of-australia-to-shed-staff-and-slash-acquisitions-from-3000-to-about-100-a-year">budgetary shortfall</a> and will lose 10% of its staff. The gallery has also recently reduced the number of new acquisitions, leading some to assume a connection to the loss of funding. This is not the case.</p>
<h2>A $6 billion collection</h2>
<p>In the late 1970s, after the prices paid for American and European art became a <a href="https://theconversation.com/blue-poles-45-years-on-asset-or-overvalued-drip-painting-102639">political issue</a>, the Fraser government placed <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127535017?searchTerm=Braque%20Grand%20Nu%20Fraser%20National%20Gallery&searchLimits=#">restrictions</a> on the price the gallery could pay for international art. Any major purchases would now require permission from parliament. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blue-poles-45-years-on-asset-or-overvalued-drip-painting-102639">Blue poles 45 years on: asset or overvalued drip painting?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>As the gallery’s acquisition budget was not otherwise constrained, the gallery redirected its purchases to create an encyclopaedic collection of Australian art. Over the years, the collection has matured into a balance between Australian, American, European, Asian and Pacific art, still keeping the bias towards art of the 20th and 21st centuries as proposed by the Lindsay report</p>
<p>The collection now comprises almost 160,000 works of art valued at <a href="https://nga.gov.au/aboutus/reports/nga_ar_18-19.pdf">A$6 billion</a> – a remarkable achievement for a collection that began only fifty years ago. </p>
<p>Over the last decade, the gallery has added an average of 2,134 items to its collection each year, including 863 new purchases.</p>
<p><iframe id="zjBzJ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/zjBzJ/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>In the early years, under James Mollison’s directorship, there was a need to build the collection from a very small base of works that had found their way into the hands of the old Commonwealth Art Advisory Board. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/james-mollison-the-public-art-teacher-who-brought-the-blue-poles-to-australia-130285">James Mollison: the public art teacher who brought the Blue Poles to Australia</a>
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<p>Collections policy is not governed by numbers of works but by the nature of what is available, and how it relates to other works already in the collection. Once the collection was established, acquisitions could be focused on areas of particular need. Ron Radford expanded the Pacific collection; current director Nick Mitzevich is focused on contemporary art. </p>
<p>The gallery’s significant budget cuts will not impact the acquisitions budget. Gallery director Nick Mitzevich tells The Conversation the $16 million annual spend on buying art will be maintained, and cannot be appropriated for other purposes. </p>
<p>With such a collections base to work from, he says the gallery will focus on the quality, rather than quantity, of works which can be purchased from the same budget: collecting major works, or, as Mitzevich describes, “absolute excellence”.</p>
<p>But while the acquisitions budget is being maintained, other gallery departments are facing serious budget cuts.</p>
<p>With the exception of the Australian War Memorial, which will receive a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/16/former-war-memorial-heads-join-call-to-redirect-500m-for-grandiose-expansion-to-veterans">controversial</a> $500 million expansion, Australia’s national cultural organisations have been hit <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2014-arts-and-culture-experts-react-26638">exceptionally hard</a> by a succession of conservative governments. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2014-arts-and-culture-experts-react-26638">Federal budget 2014: arts and culture experts react</a>
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<p>The gallery’s operations budget must comply with the Australian Public Service’s <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/EfficiencyDividend">efficiency dividend</a>. This year, operating revenue is reduced by $1.5 million. To counteract this reduction, the gallery <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/23/national-gallery-of-australia-to-shed-staff-and-slash-acquisitions-from-3000-to-about-100-a-year">will cut</a> 10% of its total staff, beginning with voluntary redundancies. </p>
<p>This will inevitably mean a loss of senior staff, some of those with the greatest expertise. </p>
<h2>Shifting worlds</h2>
<p>It has been a difficult year for the gallery. Due to smoke from the bushfires on January 5 and 6, the gallery had to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/galleries-grapple-with-climate-change-and-unprecedented-closures-20200106-p53p7r.html">close</a> for the safety of its collection, including the major summer blockbuster Picasso and Matisse.</p>
<p>It was the first time the National Gallery of Australia has ever closed for more than one day.</p>
<p>Then, COVID-19 struck. The gallery shut its doors on March 23, not re-opening until June 2. Visitor numbers remain small. Yesterday, only 250 came through the doors. This time last year they were in the thousands.</p>
<p>Mtizevich has yet to calculate the full cost of these dual disasters to the gallery’s revenue. He told The Conversation the act of keeping to budget while keeping faith with the National Gallery’s objectives is “not an easy job, a tightrope”. </p>
<p>He is adamant the collections policy will remain unchanged.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141314/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Mendelssohn has in the past received funding from The Australian Research Council </span></em></p>
The National Gallery of Australia is facing a 10% reduction in staffing, but will maintain its $16 million acquisitions budget.
Joanna Mendelssohn, Principal Fellow (Hon), Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Editor in Chief, Design and Art of Australia Online, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/133161
2020-03-10T19:04:56Z
2020-03-10T19:04:56Z
Travel bans and event cancellations: how the art market is suffering from coronavirus
<p>The recently released <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/about/initiatives/the-art-market">The Art Market 2020</a> report provides a timely insight into how COVID-19-related disruptions are likely to impact growth and sales in the global art market. </p>
<p>The report estimates global art market sales in 2019 were worth US$64.1 billion (A$97 billion), down 5% on 2018.</p>
<p>This drop reflects the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/world-economic-situation-and-prospects-september-2019-briefing-no-130/">decline in global economic growth</a> driven by increasing geopolitical tensions and the trend toward trade protectionism led by the United States.</p>
<p>In 2020, measures to control the spread of coronavirus through government restrictions on travel and large social events are already having a dramatic impact on the international art market. </p>
<p>In the last six weeks, multiple art fairs have announced either <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/miart-2020-1795875">postponement or cancellation</a>, including Jingart Beijing, Art Basel Hong Kong, Miaart Milan, Art Paris, Art Berlin and Art Dubai. </p>
<p>The European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht went ahead, but reported <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/tefaf-fair-quiet-coronavirus-fears-1795797">a 27% drop</a> in attendance of VIPs at the opening, when many major sales are traditionally made.</p>
<h2>The growing art fair market</h2>
<p>As in previous years, 2019 art market sales were highly concentrated in three major hubs. The United States, the United Kingdom and China collectively accounted for 82% of the total value of sales. </p>
<p>The Art Market report identified a growing shift away from public auctions toward private sales. The overall auction sector (including public auctions and private sales by auction houses, online and offline) represented 42% of total market sales in 2019. </p>
<p>The overall dealer sector (including dealer, gallery and online retail sales) represented 58% of total art market sales in 2019, with the value of sales increasing by 2%. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-australian-art-market-has-flatlined-what-can-be-done-to-revive-it-122932">Friday essay: The Australian art market has flatlined. What can be done to revive it?</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Within this sector, dealers with turnover of more than US$1 million (A$1.5 million) experienced a much larger growth of 20%. These dealers are the fastest-growing sector and the most reliant on art fair sales. </p>
<p>Almost half of all sales in the dealer sector were made at art fairs in 2019, amounting to US$16.5 billion (A$25 billion) – 26% of all sales made in the global art market. </p>
<p>This concentration of sales at the top end of the dealer market is perhaps the art market’s Achilles heel when considering potential fallout from the impending COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Dealers in this turnover bracket attended twice as many art fairs as smaller dealers, with international fairs (as opposed to local fairs) contributing to more than half their total art fair sales. </p>
<p>For dealers with turnover of more than US$10 million (A$15.1 million), international art fairs represented a staggering 70% of their art fair sales. </p>
<h2>An unwelcome ‘distraction’</h2>
<p>Besides the sales generated at art fairs, dealers have become increasingly dependent on fairs for expanding client lists and developing their businesses. </p>
<p>The unfolding COVID-19 pandemic represents an immediate threat to this business model. One dealer quoted in The Art Market report noted the undesirable impact disruptions from outside the art world can have on art market demand: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>2020 will be a challenging year, but rather than major political dramas having a direct financial impact, their main danger for us is to distract people’s attention. Distractions and anxieties can take people away from buying art, even if the economy is booming and they’re still in a position to spend.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While this dealer was more likely referring to topical political issues, such as Brexit or trade sanctions, the COVID-19 outbreak has the potential to provide a far greater “distraction” for art buyers. </p>
<p>The impact of COVID-19 on the long-term health of the art market remains to be seen. </p>
<p>Art fairs <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/art-fair-saturation-1484986">had already been struggling</a> due to multiple economic headwinds in the latter part of 2019, with increasing numbers of retractions and cancellations worldwide. </p>
<p>In 2019, Art Basel Hong Kong featured 242 galleries from 35 countries and was attended by 88,000 visitors over five days. This was a pivotal event on the regional calendar and its loss to the 2020 art market will be sorely felt.</p>
<p>The global footprints and nimble business structures of international auction houses may help these businesses weather this storm, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/arts/christies-sothebys-auctions.html">they have done in the past</a>. But the picture is worrying for commercial galleries. </p>
<p>Artists and galleries <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/australian-galleries-count-cost-as-coronavirus-shutters-hk-art-fair-20200207-p53yts.html">prepare for months</a> in advance of fairs and exhibitions. </p>
<p>In a survey of the <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/analysis/behind-closed-doors-how-museums-in-china-are-coping-with-coronavirus">impact of the coronavirus</a> on the art market in China, 73.8% of respondents in the visual arts industry reported their businesses will not survive for longer than three months if the current containment situation continues. </p>
<p><a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/coronavirus-hong-kong-online-gallery-platform-1794369">Creative initiatives</a> are emerging, such as Art Basel Hong Kong’s online viewing platform. But with uncertainty about how long it will be until this pandemic is under control, the future health of the global art industry is yet to be determined.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Art Market 2020 report reveals the global art market was worth US$64.1 billion in 2019. But with cancelled art fairs in Hong Kong, Paris, Berlin and Dubai, what does 2020 hold for the market?
Anita Archer, Research Coordinator, ERCC Research Unit, The University of Melbourne
David Challis, Postdoctoral researcher and sessional tutor, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130542
2020-02-05T19:01:25Z
2020-02-05T19:01:25Z
What is the place of the performing arts fair in the age of the internet?
<p><em>Review: Platform Papers 62: Performing Arts Markets and their Conundrums, by Justin Macdonnell (Currency Press)</em></p>
<p>The performing arts may be a public good that serve to enrich Australia’s cultural imagination, but they are also a product competing for audience share and government, corporate and private support.</p>
<p>Established in 1994, the <a href="https://apam.org.au/">Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM)</a> has aimed to facilitate one aspect of this “arts market” by hosting biennial trade fairs that connect national and international producers and programming venues. </p>
<p>From 2020, APAM will move from hosting these biennial conferences to “<a href="https://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/international/australian-performing-arts-market-apam/">gatherings</a>”, dividing its promotional activity across existing arts events such as Darwin Festival and Melbourne’s AsiaTOPA. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313626/original/file-20200205-20048-g5om4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313626/original/file-20200205-20048-g5om4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313626/original/file-20200205-20048-g5om4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313626/original/file-20200205-20048-g5om4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313626/original/file-20200205-20048-g5om4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313626/original/file-20200205-20048-g5om4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313626/original/file-20200205-20048-g5om4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In light of this, APAM’s future is the subject of the latest Platform Paper from Currency House: <a href="https://currencyhouse.org.au/node/288">Performing Arts Markets and their Conundrums</a>. </p>
<p>Author Justin Macdonnell brings a commanding insider’s perspective to the topic. He has worked in and around touring arts companies for several decades, and is currently executive director of arts industry advocacy organisation <a href="http://www.anzarts-institute.com/index.htm">Anzarts</a>.</p>
<p>Noting APAM’s new model might lessen the intensity and impact of its work – especially given that overseas producers are unlikely to make multiple excursions to Australia a year – Macdonell asks whether the arts fair has outlived its usefulness. </p>
<p>This might seem at best an issue of marginal concern to people who work outside the performing arts industry. However, Macdonell argues the current system has led not so much to “good art” but “convenient art” being promoted to Australian audiences.</p>
<p>Given the significant role that public funding and public bodies such as the <a href="https://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/">Australia Council</a> play in supporting the performing arts and arts venues, his question deserves wider attention. </p>
<p>Frustratingly (but, no doubt, diplomatically), Macdonnell does not offer concrete examples of “convenient art”. He nevertheless argues that the “dominating presence of state and federal agencies” in the Australian arts market has led to the stifling of independent arts managers and small-scale producers, and also of innovative and risky projects.</p>
<p>It is time we asked, he suggests, whether an arts fair is necessary, let alone desirable, in today’s digitally empowered, globalised marketplace.</p>
<h2>An online world</h2>
<p>Macdonnell notes trade fairs are at odds with calls to curb air travel due to its <a href="https://theconversation.com/sustainable-shopping-is-it-possible-to-fly-sustainably-88636">environmental impact</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sustainable-shopping-is-it-possible-to-fly-sustainably-88636">Sustainable shopping: is it possible to fly sustainably?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>He also wonders if touring itself is so desirable or necessary in the age of YouTube and teleconferencing: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is not to say that these means have replaced seeing a work or meeting the artist in person. In all probability, they never will. But they have revolutionalised <em>access</em> to knowledge of the work and are creating and maintaining contact about it. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In this digitally enabled market, companies and individual artists can also now bypass the traditional arts brokers and gatekeepers such as arts agencies, or indeed APAM itself, and promote themselves directly to producers. </p>
<p>APAM, he further observes, has “never has been the practitioner’s market”, rather it has “come to be about just one part of the industry (non-profit)”. Presenters and producers might attend to seek out new and innovative work, but they are not given a comprehensive overview of what might actually be available. </p>
<h2>Left unsaid</h2>
<p>Although Macdonnell does not explore this, such institutionalised impediments to free choice may help explain the growing trend towards <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2005.06.002">homogenisation</a> in major arts programming across the developed world. </p>
<p>Artistic directors of major performing arts festivals, in particular, can appear impregnable to pitches from outside established promotional routes. </p>
<p>But if, as Macdonnell notes, “anyone, anywhere in the world at any time can now see the newest show on YouTube”, why would we seek to rely on the filter of agents or industry bodies to select what we will see or hear? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-culture-on-the-free-trade-agenda-we-must-protect-our-own-22084">With culture on the free trade agenda, we must protect our own</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The potential for market distortion under the current system can be made worse by horsetrading behind the scenes. The most powerful artist agencies routinely leverage access to their most profitable performers or productions to make hiring companies and venues take on other acts they represent, with little regard for local circumstances.</p>
<p>To my mind, the major buyers in the arts marketplace – artistic directors, festivals and venues – should be specifically resourced and encouraged to look for acts outside these existing industry networks.</p>
<p>Wesley Enoch’s provocative 2014 Platform Paper, <a href="https://currencyhouse.org.au/node/42">Take Me To Your Leader</a>, however, suggested we lack this kind of cultural leadership across the Australian performing arts: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>With the growth of government-led cultural leadership we have seen the voices of the mob, the dissenters and the opposition slowly becoming tamed and included in a sort of official culture […] Government champions the arts more these days than artists do.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Enoch asked whether those who run subsidised organisations might be brave enough to bite the hand that feeds them. </p>
<p>Macdonnell refrains from concluding his platform paper with similarly provocative statements. </p>
<p>But he has done a useful service to both the arts industry and the wider Australian public by asking us to consider whether there might be better ways for our major performing arts institutions to seek out, and promote, their wares.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Tregear had a Platform Paper published by Currency House in 2014 (PP38 'Enlightenment or Entitlement: Rethinking Tertiary Music Education').</span></em></p>
A new quarterly essay looks at changes in how we market Australian performing arts – but is this necessary in a globalised digital marketplace?
Peter Tregear, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/130285
2020-01-22T19:03:53Z
2020-01-22T19:03:53Z
James Mollison: the public art teacher who brought the Blue Poles to Australia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311288/original/file-20200122-117943-2q2uyo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1026%2C566&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Then prime minister Gough Whitlam and director of the Australian National Gallery James Mollison in front of Blue Poles in 1973.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Pollock-Krasner Foundation. ARS/Copyright Agency</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>James Mollison, the founding director of the National Gallery of Australia, died on Sunday at the age of 88. He was a pivotal force in Australian art collecting, believing Australian galleries should work to educate both the public and our artists. </p>
<p>Mollison was born in Wonthaggi, Victoria, in 1931. When he left school in the late 1940s he approached the National Gallery of Victoria for what we would now call an internship. </p>
<p>He was taken on by Dr Ursula Hoff, who had just been given a permanent position at the NGV as Keeper of Prints after six years on temporary contracts. Mollison wrote in his <a href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/a-personal-tribute/%22%22">personal tribute</a> to Hoff in 2014:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Many of us at the Australian National Gallery have sought Dr Hoff’s opinion, drawing on a tradition of teaching that I know has continued for forty years.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A great gallery for the nation</h2>
<p>It is a fair bet Mollison attended Sir Kenneth Clark’s lecture on <a href="http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1579662956773%7E330&locale=en_US&metadata_object_ratio=10&show_metadata=true&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&preferred_usage_type=VIEW_MAIN&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=10&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true">The Idea of a Great Gallery</a> at the NGV on January 27 1949.</p>
<p>The British art historian was a great admirer of Hoff, and her promotion was largely due to his power to make or break careers – his letters supporting her are in the Tate Archive in London. </p>
<p>Clark <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/about-us/history/the-gallery-in-wartime/the-gallery-in-wartime?viewPage=4">spent the war years</a> making the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square – founded in 1824 – a truly public space for Britons and others to see and learn about art, despite the Blitz. </p>
<p>In his Melbourne lecture, Clark urged the gallery to purchase experimental work, saying: “[This] seems to me particularly necessary in this country, where you have a young and vital and adventurous school of painting.”</p>
<p>To “guide and stimulate” Australian artists, he said, they needed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] a sight of the best modern work, something which still has about it the thrill of experiment. They are trying to discover a fresh way of seeing, and they must be allowed to study the work of those European and Latin American artists who are doing the same.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Following his informal internship with Hoff, Mollison trained as a secondary school teacher, becoming an education officer at the NGV in 1960. After a short stint at the NGV, he became a bureaucrat with the <a href="http://www.menziescollection.esrc.unimelb.edu.au/biogs/E000085b.htm">Commonwealth Art Advisory Board</a>, working under three prime ministers – Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311289/original/file-20200122-117927-1iakdrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311289/original/file-20200122-117927-1iakdrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311289/original/file-20200122-117927-1iakdrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311289/original/file-20200122-117927-1iakdrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=845&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311289/original/file-20200122-117927-1iakdrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1062&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311289/original/file-20200122-117927-1iakdrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1062&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311289/original/file-20200122-117927-1iakdrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1062&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fred Williams James Mollison 1964-65, etching, engraving, flat biting and mezzotint, printed in black ink, from one copper plate, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Gift of Lyn Williams 2018. Donated through the Australian government’s Cultural Gifts Program.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Estate of Fred Williams</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During this time, it was decided to build a national art gallery in Canberra – a building which had been long advocated for. It is an indication of the respect in which he was held that Mollison was appointed acting director in the 1970s. </p>
<p>Finally, with the endorsement of Fraser, he was confirmed as full director in 1977.</p>
<h2>1973</h2>
<p>1973 was a particularly memorable year for Australia’s accumulation of cultural capital: <a href="https://meanjin.com.au/%E2%80%A2-essay/peevish-paddy-and-sir-neddy-patrick-whites-nobel-prize-for-literature/">Patrick White</a> won the Nobel Prize for literature on the same day <a href="https://theconversation.com/40-years-on-how-gough-whitlam-gave-indigenous-art-a-boost-19749">the Queen opened</a> the Sydney Opera House. </p>
<p>In Canberra, Mollison was authorised by Prime Minister Whitlam to pay A$1.3 million for Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles: then the highest price ever for a contemporary work of American art.</p>
<p>Blue Poles still hangs at the NGA, where it is now speculatively valued at <a href="https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/jackson-pollocks-blue-poles-now-worth-350m-20160928-grq3cj">A$350 million</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-looking-at-blue-poles-by-jackson-pollock-51655">Here's looking at: Blue poles by Jackson Pollock</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It seems Mollison was following Clark’s advice to buy experimental art to educate Australian artists. Prior to the opening of the gallery, Mollison also collected works such as <a href="https://nga.gov.au/international/catalogue/detail.cfm?IRN=47761">Woman V</a> by Willem de Kooning, Sidney Nolan’s <a href="https://nga.gov.au/nolan/">Ned Kelly series</a>, and significant works by Arthur Boyd and Albert Tucker. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311284/original/file-20200122-117907-1ezkp7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311284/original/file-20200122-117907-1ezkp7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311284/original/file-20200122-117907-1ezkp7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311284/original/file-20200122-117907-1ezkp7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311284/original/file-20200122-117907-1ezkp7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311284/original/file-20200122-117907-1ezkp7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311284/original/file-20200122-117907-1ezkp7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">James Mollison AO and Robert Hughes AO with Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Pollock-Krasner Foundation. ARS/Copyright Agency</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My research has traced the <a href="https://meanjin.com.au/blog/who-sold-blue-poles-to-australia/">purchase of Blue Poles</a> by Mollison and his colleagues through connections to the London gallerist Bryan Robertson, another of Clark’s proteges, who promoted both Australian artists and Jackson Pollock by exhibiting them at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.</p>
<p>Barely a year after the sale, Robertson was offered the position of associate director of the NGV, given without an interview on the basis of Clark’s reference. However, Robertson didn’t take the post because of his “<a href="https://meanjin.com.au/essays/ern-and-ned-sun-and-sid/">dread, really.</a> Of going off to the other side of the world.”</p>
<h2>After Blue Poles</h2>
<p>The controversy over the price paid for Blue Poles overshadowed Mollison’s directorship, but he continued to acquire both contemporary Australian art and overseas works with what was regarded as a good eye. </p>
<p>In 1990, Mollison left Canberra for the NGV in Melbourne, where he stayed until 1995. </p>
<p>The NGV is now 22nd on the <a href="https://www.museus.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/The-Art-Newspaper-Ranking-2018.pdf">list</a> of the world’s most visited art museums. More than 2.5 million cross its doorstep each year. Despite Blue Poles and the Ned Kellys, the NGA comes in 86th, with 928,000.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311290/original/file-20200122-117927-14yx7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311290/original/file-20200122-117927-14yx7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311290/original/file-20200122-117927-14yx7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311290/original/file-20200122-117927-14yx7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311290/original/file-20200122-117927-14yx7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311290/original/file-20200122-117927-14yx7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/311290/original/file-20200122-117927-14yx7ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">James Mollison AO giving a lecture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Gallery Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When I interviewed the American art collector <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-30/daughter-of-art-collector-reunited-with-blue-poles-pollock/6900046">Ben Heller</a> in 2018, he said one major reason why he sold Blue Poles to the Australians was they promised him:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>No child could graduate [from school] without going to Canberra to see Blue Poles.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even though Mollison started his career as a public art teacher, that promise seems to have been lost – although the painting did tour Australia (complete with armed guard) before being put in storage to wait for its gallery to be built. </p>
<p>The acquisition of Blue Poles divided the art world and the Australian public who paid for it. But certainly it was an educational exercise, which was probably the legacy James Mollison wished to leave.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Rabbitt Roff does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The first director of the National Gallery of Australia has died at 88.
Sue Rabbitt Roff, Researcher, Social History/Tutor in Medical Education, University of Dundee
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/122932
2019-09-26T20:09:09Z
2019-09-26T20:09:09Z
Friday essay: The Australian art market has flatlined. What can be done to revive it?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293998/original/file-20190925-51434-5oxwc5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C8%2C2968%2C1823&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Changes to superannuation legislation have had a cooling effect on arts investment in recent years. Image: An old bee farm (c. 1900) by Clara Southern</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/3021/">National Gallery of Victoria</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the market parlance of boom and bust cycles, the Australian art market has long been leaning towards the latter. Over the past decade, it has performed very poorly. According to <a href="https://www.aasd.com.au/index.cfm/sales-by-year-au/">Australian Art Sales Digest</a>, the combined volume of secondary market sales through Australian auction houses was $107 million in 2018. This amount has remained essentially unchanged for the last ten years and is 39% lower than its apex in 2007. Prices for Australian artwork in the secondary market have followed a very similar pattern. </p>
<p>Commercial art galleries, traditional representatives of artists’ new work, are struggling to counteract declining foot traffic. <a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-art-market-is-failing-australian-artists-51314">There are fewer now than there were ten years ago</a>, with <a href="https://visual.artshub.com.au/news-article/news/visual-arts/gina-fairley/why-are-so-many-commercial-galleries-closing-254259">several new closures</a>, such as the landmark Watters Gallery in Sydney, announced in recent years. </p>
<h2>Struggling artists</h2>
<p>This decline in demand has of course resulted in a disheartening reduction in the incomes of many of Australia’s visual artists. Lowensteins Arts Management, accountants to more than 4,000 Australian artists across all creative disciplines, <a href="https://www.lowensteins.com.au/news-resources/blog/tax-reform-australian-artists">has calculated</a> incomes for “established” visual artists decreased by 15% between 2010 and 2017.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293976/original/file-20190925-51463-6j6le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293976/original/file-20190925-51463-6j6le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293976/original/file-20190925-51463-6j6le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293976/original/file-20190925-51463-6j6le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293976/original/file-20190925-51463-6j6le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293976/original/file-20190925-51463-6j6le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293976/original/file-20190925-51463-6j6le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293976/original/file-20190925-51463-6j6le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Australian art market has stagnated over the last decade.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU2OTQxNDExOSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTEzOTcwNzIxNCIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMTM5NzA3MjE0L2h1Z2UuanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJDVGJkUVM4MXBJMERJT1Bvd0VTOWxQOTB1RHMiXQ%2Fshutterstock_1139707214.jpg&pi=41133566&m=1139707214&src=l2SjOHdVvwJrqiifdy_oRg-1-0">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Incomes for “mid-career” artists fell by 4% over the same period. Interestingly, “emerging” artists benefited from a gain of 109% in their incomes - but <a href="https://www.lowensteins.com.au/news-resources/blog/tax-reform-australian-artists">these incomes were very low to start with</a>. </p>
<p>Media commentators and industry operators commonly blame this underperformance on the economic disruptions brought about by the global financial crisis. Certainly, the immediate drop in auction sales experienced in 2008 can be attributed to the loss of wealth and confidence that was endemic across the globe at that time. </p>
<p>However, the recently released <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/news/art-market-report">The Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2019</a> shows that art market sales in the United States, the epicentre of the GFC, have increased by 38% in the decade since 2008, with global art market sales increasing by 9% over the same period.</p>
<p>Given Australia’s experience of the GFC was <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook43p/australiachinagfc">less severe</a> than most other industrialised countries, it’s time to start identifying and dealing with the specific factors responsible for declining demand in the local art market and the consequent impact on visual artists’ livelihoods and careers. </p>
<h2>Unintended consequences</h2>
<p>Prior to 2011 in Australia, collectable and personal use assets, such as artworks, were cost effective for self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) to own because they could be leased to the fund’s members, stored in their private residence and insured under their house and contents insurance.</p>
<p>Concern SMSF members might be tempted to gain a benefit from these assets before their retirement by displaying them, as opposed to simply storing them, led to the <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Super/Self-managed-super-funds/Investing/Restrictions-on-investments/Collectables-and-personal-use-assets/">prohibition of this practice</a> in July 2011. </p>
<p>Despite politicians from both sides promising these legislative changes would “<a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/chamber/hansards/2011-02-10/0081/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">not act as a disincentive for SMSFs to invest in Australian art</a>”, the new requirements for collectable assets to be stored offsite and independently insured resulted in a substantial increase in the cost of owning artwork through a SMSF. </p>
<p>The following chart illustrates the impact on SMSF demand for collectable assets. While <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-detail/Super-statistics/SMSF/Self-managed-super-fund-quarterly-statistical-report---March-2019/#Assetallocation">SMSF balances</a> have increased from A$395 billion in June 2011 to $715 billion in March 2019, SMSF investments in the collectable asset class have fallen from $713 million to $371 million over the same period. </p>
<p>Before the 2011 changes, SMSFs represented an important component of the demand for local artwork with anecdotal accounts <a href="https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/super-puts-squeeze-on-art-ng-ya-314139">reported in 2010</a> suggesting SMSFs represented between 15% and 25% of all sales in the local art market. This makes sense because SMSFs have a very distinctive member profile: 75% of SMSF members are older than 50 years and 60% have funds in excess of $500,000. </p>
<p>Art patronage studies and recent research into <a href="https://d33ipftjqrd91.cloudfront.net/asset/cms/Art_Basel_and_UBS_The_Art_Market_2017.pdf">the profile of art consumers</a> show this is almost exactly the same demographic who are the traditional buyers of artwork produced by “established” artists. Essentially, the compulsory and tax-efficient nature of the Australian superannuation system has gathered a large portion of the discretionary savings of high-net-worth Australians into SMSFs and then discouraged them from buying art.</p>
<p>Surely the recognised importance of the visual arts sector, both in financial and non-financial terms, justifies “investment grade artwork” having a dedicated ATO asset class rather than being lumped together with other collectable and personal use assets. The usage of mint condition coins, antique furniture or recreational boats would clearly detract from the benefit they could provide SMSF members in retirement. The financial value of artwork, to the contrary, is enhanced rather than diminished when it is displayed and circulated. </p>
<h2>Reigniting investment</h2>
<p>The creation of a separate asset class would allow for targeted rules relating to definitions, valuations, maximum portfolio exposure and compliance, that should alleviate government concerns about the administration of SMSF investment in art. Given the scale of SMSF balances versus the size of the Australian art market, a simple reversal of the 2011 amendments for “investment grade artwork”, would almost certainly see a dramatic improvement in the demand for Australian art.</p>
<p>If these amendments had never been implemented and the 0.18% SMSF allocation toward collectables in June 2011 had been maintained over the subsequent eight years, it’s likely we would’ve seen SMSF investment in artwork double instead of the substantial divestment that has actually occurred. </p>
<p>If the government went further and allowed “investment grade artwork” to be displayed in the private residences of SMSF members, the boost to demand would likely be much greater. This would of course raise reasonable questions in relation to the social equity of the superannuation system. </p>
<p>We could ask why wealthy Australians should be given an additional benefit from an already generous superannuation system? The fact is exceptions to the prohibition of pre-retirement benefits already exist in the current system. For example, a company owned by a SMSF member is permitted <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Super/Self-managed-super-funds/Investing/Restrictions-on-investments/Business-real-property/">to lease a property owned by the member’s SMSF at commercial rates</a>.</p>
<p>A public policy shift in either of these directions would have zero cost implications for government. Indeed, additional sales growth in the arts economy would generate GST, income tax and likely reduce welfare payments to struggling artists. There were no winners from demanding artwork be stored in offsite facilities, but the arts economy is certainly the loser under the current rules.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293992/original/file-20190925-51434-1hora09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C51%2C2424%2C1577&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293992/original/file-20190925-51434-1hora09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C51%2C2424%2C1577&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293992/original/file-20190925-51434-1hora09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293992/original/file-20190925-51434-1hora09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293992/original/file-20190925-51434-1hora09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293992/original/file-20190925-51434-1hora09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293992/original/file-20190925-51434-1hora09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293992/original/file-20190925-51434-1hora09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">We can’t blame the GFC for the decline in Australian art value.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU2OTQxNzEzMCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMzk5OTkxNzIwIiwiayI6InBob3RvLzM5OTk5MTcyMC9odWdlLmpwZyIsIm0iOjEsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwiZ1hZZ1Zkd1M5eWRKUWJoWXVDQ1NNejNBdCtvIl0%2Fshutterstock_399991720.jpg&pi=41133566&m=399991720&src=ZxQbNRFE9AE-S5qPPzdt_w-1-1">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<h2>Pros and cons of the Resale Royalties Scheme</h2>
<p>Two years before the SMSF rules were amended in 2011, the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2009A00125">Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists Act 2009</a> was passed in Federal parliament and the associated Retail Royalties Scheme commenced in June 2010. Under the scheme all commercial sales of artwork exceeding a threshold of $1,000 are now subject to a 5% resale royalty on the sale price of the artwork inclusive of GST, which is payable to the originating artist or their estate for a period of 70 years from the artist’s death. </p>
<p>The objective of this legislation was to nurture Australian visual art culture by enhancing the moral rights of artists and ensuring they financially benefited from future sales of their artworks. As at March 2019 <a href="https://www.resaleroyalty.org.au/">the scheme has generated</a> $7 million in royalties for more than 1,800 artists. The average payment has been in the order of $370 and 63% of the artists receiving payments have been Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islanders. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2013C00287">post-implementation review</a> of the scheme was conducted in 2013, which received 74 submissions from interested parties, predominantly art market professionals. Despite many of the submissions criticising the administrative burden created by the scheme, and some identifying concerning market behaviours, the results of the review were never made public and no amendments to the scheme have been made. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294272/original/file-20190926-51405-7o8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294272/original/file-20190926-51405-7o8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294272/original/file-20190926-51405-7o8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294272/original/file-20190926-51405-7o8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294272/original/file-20190926-51405-7o8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294272/original/file-20190926-51405-7o8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294272/original/file-20190926-51405-7o8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294272/original/file-20190926-51405-7o8mt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Clarice Beckett’s Beach Scene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CBUS Collection of Australia Art as Advised by Dr Joseph Brown AO OBE</span></span>
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<p>The importance of resale royalties, both in their objective to enhance artist’s incomes and potential to disrupt art market sales, warrants further investigation to ensure the terms of the scheme are set at optimal levels. Unfortunately, the close proximity of the changes to the SMSF rules in relation to collectables and the introduction of resale royalties make it difficult to measure the specific impact of the Resale Royalties Scheme on art market sales.</p>
<p>However, anecdotal feedback supports many of the submissions to the 2013 review that claimed the low level of the threshold amount creates a disproportionate administrative burden compared to the final resale royalty paid to an artist. On a $1,000 sale, an artist would only receive $42 after the administrators of the scheme, Copyright Agency Limited, deducts their mandatory 15% fee. The risk for emerging artists is that commercial galleries and auction houses may be incentivised to avoid low value transactions as a way to minimise the administrative burden of the scheme. </p>
<p>Other industry participants complained the royalty rate was too high relative to similar international schemes. One of the recommendations made by the Australia Council for the Arts in their submission to the 2013 review was to consider replicating similar thresholds and rates applied by equivalent schemes operated in the United Kingdom and European Union. </p>
<p>The latter scheme allows for a royalty that is calculated on a sliding scale from 4% to 0.25% and is capped at 12,500 euros (A$20,330) per transaction. The royalty for the Australian scheme remains uncapped and this potentially invites undesirable market behaviours, such as high value transactions being conducted in foreign tax jurisdictions or cash sales occurring between private parties. </p>
<p>Another Australia Council for the Arts recommendation was to charge the royalty on the sale price of the artwork before GST is added to avoid the royalty acting as a tax on a tax. At the moment the Resale Royalty Scheme rate in Australia is effectively 5.5%. </p>
<p>Amendments to the scheme could remove obvious loopholes, make the scheme less burdensome and improve market efficiency.</p>
<h2>Provenance and authenticity</h2>
<p>As well as systemic economic impediments, the Australian art market also has broader cultural issues that need to be addressed. To date, the art market has opted to be self-regulating. However, as evidenced by <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/blackman-and-dickerson-works-confirmed-as-genuine-fakes-20100601-wvff.html">recent art market scandals</a>, the opaque transactional environment endemic to the art market globally is undermining confidence in the market. </p>
<p>These issues are not exclusive to Australia. Globally, collectors and authenticating bodies are discovering that legal frameworks are deficient for an <a href="https://www.apollo-magazine.com/does-the-art-market-need-more-regulation/">industry of high value but low regulation</a>. Indeed, many foundations that administer the legacy of an artist <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-deep-freeze-in-art-authentication-1398385417">have closed down</a> due to the financial pressures of legal action taken by frustrated and aggravated collectors. Evidence of art experts <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-deep-freeze-in-art-authentication-1398385417">declining</a> to provide professional opinions for fear of litigious reprisal is also concerning. </p>
<p>A key element of the provenance issue is a reliable track record of ownership of an artwork, from its moment of production to its current point of ownership. Ideally, an open access database of artworks could provide collectors with an easily accessible reference point. The data collected by Copyright Agency Limited for the Resale Royalties Scheme purposes ostensibly appears to be a good vehicle for this; however, the nature of the data collected, along with inherent issues with the system itself, has not yielded any comfort for collectors.</p>
<p>Recently, a plethora of start-ups have been <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-of-blockchains-1411054">making substantial claims</a> for blockchain technology to provide solutions for a myriad of art market issues. However, they are yet to demonstrate any evidence or practical impact on the market. The market has to be a willing participant, and the technology needs to be motivated by a greater good than simply profit for its creators, to have any meaningful impact on the broader art world. Again, this implies a role for government or an industry agency.</p>
<h2>Raising our global profile</h2>
<p>The historically insular nature of the Australian art market presents another impediment to growth. Collector demand for Australian art could be greatly expanded by increasing the international profile of Australian artists and their artworks. </p>
<p>It is critical to encourage programs, both commercial and non-commercial, that allow for Australian artworks to be continuously seen alongside their international peers to drive interest, familiarity and confidence with international collectors. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294001/original/file-20190925-51401-127zarf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294001/original/file-20190925-51401-127zarf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/294001/original/file-20190925-51401-127zarf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294001/original/file-20190925-51401-127zarf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294001/original/file-20190925-51401-127zarf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294001/original/file-20190925-51401-127zarf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294001/original/file-20190925-51401-127zarf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/294001/original/file-20190925-51401-127zarf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Australia needs to raise its profile on the global arts scene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU2OTQyMDk4NSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTMyNDA0MDI3MCIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMzI0MDQwMjcwL2h1Z2UuanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCIvM1ptV3dRamw0bU1wMmVWSnRzL0owWnlaVzgiXQ%2Fshutterstock_1324040270.jpg&pi=41133566&m=1324040270&src=Piyo7LPWm9UkjO3PPoeB9A-1-2">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>The recent exhibition of ten contemporary <a href="https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2019/desert-painters-of-australia/">Australian Indigenous artists at the Gagosian Madison Avenue gallery</a> in New York provides a topical example of how much collector and media attention can be gained through international exposure. Most of the paintings in this exhibition are owned by Hollywood actor <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-20/steve-martin-loans-indigenous-art-collection-to-nyc-gallery/11025190">Steve Martin</a>, who acknowledged in a recent interview the potential for greater international demand once Australian Indigenous artwork was better understood and marketed in the company of other high profile contemporary artwork. </p>
<p>In this regard, the growth potential of online sales must surely be seen as a promising opportunity for the Australian art industry to reach a global audience of art collectors given the challenges presented by its geographic isolation.</p>
<p>Blaming the GFC for the continued underperformance of the Australian art market and its failure to generate satisfactory income growth for artists only diverts attention away from the real issues that continue to undermine sales growth and confidence. There needs to be a greater focus on addressing the structural issues evident across all sectors of the Australian art market ecosystem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Don’t blame the global financial crisis. The Australian art market has performed poorly over the last decade - but there is plenty of growth potential.
David Challis, Postdoctoral researcher and sessional tutor, The University of Melbourne
Anita Archer, Research Coordinator, ERCC Research Unit, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/116645
2019-05-15T10:46:34Z
2019-05-15T10:46:34Z
We’re just beginning to grasp the toll of the Islamic State’s archaeological looting in Syria
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274405/original/file-20190514-60545-5olb1f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Syrian archeologist holds an artifact that was transported to Damascus for safe-keeping during the Syrian Civil War.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Syria-Rescuing-Antiquities/8899b3cfb4f340549454e0886b15cbcb/51/0">AP Photo/Hassan Ammar</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Islamic State <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/23/middleeast/isis-caliphate-end-intl/index.html">surrendered its last scrap of territory</a>, in Baghouz, Syria, this past March. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/03/18/trump-isis-terrorists-defeated-foreign-policy-225816">some argue</a> that celebrations of IS’s demise are premature, there’s no question that the terrorist group left a trail of destruction in its wake. </p>
<p>Many lives were lost, of course. But a looming issue is the group’s legacy of looting.</p>
<p>During IS’s seemingly unstoppable rise, looted artifacts were said to be a <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/isis-makes-100-million-year-smuggling-ancient-artifacts-iraq-and-syria-647524">significant source of income</a> for the group. Value estimates ranged from a few million to <a href="https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/how-much-money-is-isis-making-from-antiquities-looting/">several billion dollars</a>.</p>
<p>One of the issues in media reports about the looting is that no one had a firm grasp of just how much was at stake. The dollar figures amounted to guesswork.</p>
<p>We still don’t know exactly what’s missing. But no one had identified the value, using empirical data and systematic calculations, of the artifacts that were known to exist in these archaeological sites. Until now.</p>
<p>With two Near Eastern archaeologists and two art market researchers on our team, we recently published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739119000018">a paper</a> in the International Journal of Cultural Property that offers the first attempt to quantify the market value of artifacts at the level of a site.</p>
<p>The excavated objects’ total value was larger than we had expected. We found that just a small portion of a site can yield thousands of objects, adding up to millions of dollars. </p>
<h2>An archaeological gold mine</h2>
<p>For the study, we examined two sites from different time periods that housed two different types of settlements. The first, <a href="https://artgallery.yale.edu/online-feature/dura-europos-excavating-antiquity">Dura Europos</a>, was a Roman garrison town on the Euphrates with a multi-ethnic population. Four years ago, when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/21/the-islamic-state-isnt-the-only-group-looting-syrian-archaeological-sites/">satellite images revealed</a> that Syria’s archaeological sites were being looted on a massive scale, the shots from Dura Europos showed a Swiss-cheese landscape of pits.</p>
<p>The second town we studied, <a href="https://vici.org/vici/34316/">Tell Bi’a</a>, in northern Syria, was a major Bronze Age capital in the second millennium B.C.</p>
<p>In the early decades of the 20th century, archaeologists excavated roughly 40% of Dura Europos. About 10% of Tell Bi'a was studied in the 1980s and 1990s. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739119000018">Records at these two sites list over 13,000 objects</a>, excluding coins. </p>
<p>Using a machine learning model, we compared archaeological records and sales records of over 40,000 antiquities from auction houses, galleries and dealers to predict what these objects would sell for. The goal was to match objects observed for sale on the art market with similar objects documented in excavation records. </p>
<p>Based on our model, the total estimated value of all artifacts, not including coins, excavated from Dura Europos to date is US$18 million. At Tell Bi’a, the estimate is $4 million. This range is partly explained by the different sizes of the two cities and the area that was excavated. It’s also explained by market interest: Greek and Roman artifacts, which comprise the large majority of objects found at Dura Europos, <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691725?af=R&mobileUi=0">fetch higher prices at auction</a> than Bronze Age items, which make up the majority of artifacts at Tell Bi’a.</p>
<p>It’s important to keep in mind that these dollar figures represent just slices of two sites. The most comprehensive database of Syrian archaeological sites, assembled by archaeologist Jesse Casana and collaborators at Dartmouth College, has identified roughly <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5615/neareastarch.78.3.0142">15,000 major sites</a> in the country. Data examined by Casana’s team suggest that 3,000 of those sites experienced some looting from the start of the Syrian Civil War in April 2011 to mid-2015. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274402/original/file-20190514-60537-1g44iag.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 2014 satellite image of Dura Europos published by the American Schools of Oriental Research. The detail in the top-right shows looting holes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.asor.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/41-6-1024x678.jpg">DigitalGlobe, Inc.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not every site has the artifactual density or richness of Dura Europos. But if a small portion of a single site like Tell Bi’a is capable of generating $4 million in sales – and there are 15,000 major sites – it doesn’t take much imagination to see just how much of an archaeological gold mine the country is.</p>
<p>Again, these dollar figures do not tell us what IS – or any other looters – actually pocketed. Our numbers project the total estimated value of recorded artifacts excavated at a particular site to date. In other words, over the past four years, IS had a treasure trove of artifacts at their disposal that they were able to pawn on a whim. </p>
<p>We may never know the full extent of the loss.</p>
<h2>What’s getting sold?</h2>
<p>What should we do with these estimates? </p>
<p>First, any policy that hopes to tackle archaeological looting needs reliable market estimates that highlight the scope and scale of the issue. Our findings get us closer to a point where everyone’s on the same page. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=819&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/274149/original/file-20190513-183106-iq1f6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1029&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fragment of a 2nd-century mural discovered in 1992 in the ancient city of Dura Europos. This particular piece was brought to Damascus for safe keeping during the Civil War, but thousands of other artifacts were left vulnerable to looting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Syria-Rescuing-Antiquities/d1029961bfd440908d4d017927047e2b/1/0">DGAM via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, our data show that small objects account for the majority of market share. At Dura Europos, 50% of the total market value was generated by objects under 13 cm long, and at Tell Bi'a by objects under 7 cm long. </p>
<p>These small treasures can pack a big punch on the market. We’re not the first to suggest that such <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/opinion/egypts-looted-antiquities.html?login=email&auth=login-email">finds</a> have outsize importance in the antiquities trade, and our data indicate that policies to address the black market – at least for Syrian antiquities – should focus on objects that can fit in looters’ pockets.</p>
<p>Our estimates also hint at possible features of the supply chain. Pairing our observations of market sales with existing evidence of farm gate prices – the price paid to looters at the source – we found that looters are paid just a small fraction of what objects would earn at their final destination. While <a href="https://traffickingculture.org/app/uploads/2012/07/CWC-14.pdf">evidence of farm gate prices is limited</a>, it indicates that much of the final price may be going to <a href="https://traffickingculture.org/app/uploads/2012/08/1998-Pity-the-poor-middlemen.pdf">middlemen</a> or dealers.</p>
<h2>Beyond the Islamic State</h2>
<p>However this isn’t a story solely about IS. We know that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188589">multiple groups participated in archaeological looting during the Syrian war</a>, including the Syrian government’s own army. IS did not invent looting; the group tapped into an existing looting infrastructure and intensified its scale and productivity. Archaeological looting is a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3764/aja.117.1.0111#metadata_info_tab_contents">global problem</a>, and Syria will continue to be of <a href="https://traffickingculture.org/publications/culture-without-context-1997-vol-1-cambridge-illicit-antiquities-research-centre/">interest</a> to hobby diggers, renegade excavators and thieves. </p>
<p>Furthermore, archaeological sites aren’t just threatened by looters: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/06/half-of-world-heritage-sites-threatened-by-development-says-wwf">Urbanization</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06645-9">climate change</a> pose just as great a danger.</p>
<p>Of course, the legacy of Syrian wartime looting can’t just be measured in dollars. It’s a loss of culture and of historical knowledge. Archaeologists use artifacts to connect people, ideas and customs and track historical change. When an item goes missing, the ability to braid together such a rich history becomes that much harder.</p>
<p>Calculating the market value of an entire ancient city might be helpful for policymakers and scholars. But it doesn’t change what Syrians and Iraqis already know all too well: You can’t put a price on history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported in part by funding from the Antiquities Coalition, the University of Chicago Oriental Institute and the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago.</span></em></p>
According to a new study, a small portion of a site can yield thousands of objects, adding up to millions of dollars.
Fiona Greenland, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia
James Marrone, Adjunct Lecturer of International Economics, Johns Hopkins University
Oya Topçuoğlu, Lecturer, Northwestern University
Tasha Vorderstrasse, University and Continuing Education Program Coordinator and Research Associate, University of Chicago
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/95938
2019-01-09T19:11:50Z
2019-01-09T19:11:50Z
How the right lighting could save the Mona Lisa
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249187/original/file-20181206-128199-1bc3u15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lighting causes damage to paintings over time. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/DCIncuh0XbY">Juan Di Nella/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Next time you’re in a museum or art gallery, observe each painting a little more closely. You may notice cracks on the surface of the canvas, especially if the painting is very old. </p>
<p>The damage you see is caused by radiant energy striking the painting’s surface – and light (visible radiation) causes irreversible damage to artwork.</p>
<p>However, all is not lost. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15502724.2018.1533852">Our new research</a> shows that optimised smart lighting systems can reduce damage to paintings while preserving their colour appearance. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/terahertz-spectroscopy-the-new-tool-to-help-detect-art-fraud-77173">Terahertz spectroscopy: the new tool to help detect art fraud</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The dilemma</h2>
<p>Damage to artwork by infrared, ultraviolet and visible radiation is <a href="http://www.cie.co.at/publications/control-damage-museum-objects-optical-radiation">well documented</a>. When a photon (an elementary light particle) is absorbed by a pigment in paint, the pigment molecule elevates to a higher energy state. In this excited state, the molecule’s chemical composition changes. This is called a photochemical action. </p>
<p>Viewed from the human perspective, the photochemical action manifests itself as cracks, discolouration, or surface hardening. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249191/original/file-20181206-128208-h0dq28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249191/original/file-20181206-128208-h0dq28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249191/original/file-20181206-128208-h0dq28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249191/original/file-20181206-128208-h0dq28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249191/original/file-20181206-128208-h0dq28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249191/original/file-20181206-128208-h0dq28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249191/original/file-20181206-128208-h0dq28.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Johannes Vermeer painted The Milkmaid in 1660.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/milkmaid-by-johannes-vermeer-1660-dutch-411416362?src=Do8T0Wf9OQ1JATiVB6PnKw-1-17">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not surprisingly, daylight, which includes infrared and ultraviolet radiation, is highly damaging to paintings. In museums, it is common practice to use incandescent, and more recently, light emitting diodes (LEDs), to reduce damage. </p>
<p>However, a group of researchers <a href="http://www.vangogh.ua.ac.be/">showed</a> that light can cause colour degradation regardless of the lighting technology. Bright yellow colours in Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers are turning dark brown due to absorption of blue and green light from LEDs. Research on the conservation of artwork makes it look like this is a losing battle. </p>
<p>Of course, you will be right in thinking that the best conservation method would be the complete absence of light. But we need light for visibility and to appreciate the beauty of a painting. </p>
<p>This leaves us with a dilemma of two conflicting parameters: visibility and damage. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-does-glow-in-the-dark-paint-work-92438">Curious Kids: How does glow in the dark paint work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Light optimisation</h2>
<p>Lighting technology in itself may not be enough to tackle this dilemma. However, the way we use technology can make a difference. </p>
<p>Our approach to address this problem is based on three key facts: </p>
<ol>
<li>light triggers photochemical actions only when it is absorbed by a pigment</li>
<li>the reflectance factor of a pigment (its effectiveness in reflecting light) determines the amount of light absorption</li>
<li>light output (composition of the light spectrum, and the intensity of the light) of lighting devices, such as LEDs, can be fine-tuned. </li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249193/original/file-20181206-128193-1835fm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249193/original/file-20181206-128193-1835fm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249193/original/file-20181206-128193-1835fm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249193/original/file-20181206-128193-1835fm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249193/original/file-20181206-128193-1835fm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249193/original/file-20181206-128193-1835fm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249193/original/file-20181206-128193-1835fm2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yellow colours are particularly vulnerable to being damaged by light.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-painting-cracked-texture-183476567?src=jrn42ol2Z0PZEk5uu9EFQw-1-7">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is possible to measure the reflectance factor of a painting and optimise lighting to reduce absorption. Previous research <a href="https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-23-11-A456">shows</a> that optimising light to lessen absorption can reduce energy consumption significantly, and with <a href="https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-25-11-12839">no loss</a> in visual experience. Objects look equally natural and attractive under optimised light sources compared to regular white light sources. </p>
<p>In this new study, we optimised LEDs for five paintings to reduce light absorption. Using a <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/996017">genetic algorithm</a> (an artificial intelligence technique), we reduced light absorption between 19% and 47%. Besides the benefits for the painting, this method almost halved the energy consumed by lighting. </p>
<p>In addition to increased sustainability and art conservation, the colour quality of the paintings was another parameter in our optimisation process. Colour appearance and brightness of paintings were held constant not to lower the appreciation of the artwork. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-eye-disorders-may-have-influenced-the-work-of-famous-painters-92830">How eye disorders may have influenced the work of famous painters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This is possible due to a quirk in our visual system. Photoreceptor cone cells, the cells in our retinas which enable human colour vision, are not equally sensitive to the whole visible spectrum. </p>
<p>Different combinations of wavelength and intensity can result in identical signals in our brain. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1331666/?page=1">This understanding</a> gives us the flexibility of using different light sources to facilitate identical colour appearances. </p>
<p>This smart lighting system requires scanning of the artwork to obtain colour information. Then, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2281482">precise projection system</a> emits optimised lighting to the painting. </p>
<p>This method offers a solution to extend the lifetime of works of art, such as the world-famous Mona Lisa, without leaving them in the dark.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95938/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorukalp Durmus does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Researchers have found a way to reduce light damage to artworks by up to 47% by optimising LEDs to prevent light from being absorbed by the artwork.
Dorukalp Durmus, Honorary Associate, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/107210
2018-11-20T14:25:23Z
2018-11-20T14:25:23Z
David Hockney’s auction record: a triumph of nostalgia over spectacle
<p>When David Hockney’s 1972 painting Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46232870">fetched US$90.3m (£70.2m) at auction</a> by Christie’s in New York recently, the art world was quick to celebrate. But this new global record for a living artist reveals more about today’s art world than about Hockney himself.</p>
<p>For most collectors and art market experts, Hockney’s success did not come as a surprise. The <a href="http://www.artnews.com/2018/09/13/christies-set-sell-david-hockneys-portrait-artist-pool-two-figures-record-breaking-80-million-estimate/">pre-auction estimate</a> for the painting was at US$80m, while <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/about/initiatives/the-art-market">Hockney’s own market data</a> from 2017 (which you can find by subscribing to the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2018) indicated the feasibility of achieving such a record.</p>
<p>Yet, there were more factors at play. The sale took place one year on from the <a href="https://www.christies.com/features/Leonardo-and-Post-War-results-New-York-8729-3.aspx">sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi</a> for US$450m. The most expensive artwork on record was sold at the same auction house, causing worldwide amazement around its <a href="https://frieze.com/article/christies-rejects-oxford-scholars-claim-450m-salvator-mundi-painted-leonardos-assistant">attribution</a> to Leonardo and the identity <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2017/12/11/investing/salvatore-mundi-buyer-abu-dhabi/index.html">of its buyer</a>, who turned out to be a <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/12/06/da-vinci-painting-saudi-prince/">Saudi prince</a>. </p>
<p>Two days after the Hockney sale <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46215476">an article</a> by the BBC’s arts editor Will Gompertz asked: “Is David Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist worth US$90m?” Gompertz himself gave the painting a five-star rating – which appeared to answer his own question. But what did Gompertz’s stars actually, assess? Was it the artistic merit of the painting, or was it its price? Was this, perhaps, a “value-for-money” verdict? </p>
<p>Or, if we think in more general terms: how can we safely position artistic value against monetary value in today’s art market? The straightforward answer is that we can’t. </p>
<p>In contrast to the modern era, during which Hockney’s painting was incubated and created, the relationships between collectors, private galleries, public museums, artists and media have become extremely intricate. Within a domineering and spectacularised art market, any judgements on cultural value are increasingly difficult, as cultural power and money intersect in unprecedented ways. The timing of Hockney’s auction and the largely sensationalist way it has been covered by international media exemplify this new reality.</p>
<h2>Techniques, emotions and technologies</h2>
<p>So, what makes the sale of Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) able to raise such complex questions? The painting has been rightly described as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/19/david-hockney-painting-art-portrait-of-an-artist">one of Hockney’s masterpieces</a>. On a visual level, it brings together two well-known features of the painter’s earlier work: his signature depictions of swimming pools, and his two-person paintings. </p>
<p>Hockney consistently used the two-person configuration in order to reflect on notions of intimacy and distance. In the case of Portrait, this aim relates to a very personal crisis: Hockney’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/nov/18/david-hockney-pool-portrait-peter-schlesinger-ex-lover-speaks">break up with his boyfriend</a>, the artist Peter Schlesinger, who was the “model” for the man staring at the swimmer.</p>
<p>One of the most interesting aspects of the painting’s creation, however, is that it was born out of “remixing” <a href="https://www.christies.com/features/David-Hockney-Portrait-of-an-Artist-Pool-with-Two-Figures-9372-3.aspx">two separate images</a> found at the artist’s studio: a photograph of a man swimming and another photograph of a boy looking downwards. In effect, this means that Hockney produced a merge on canvas that, in today’s world, would had probably been executed on screen – most likely, by using a piece of software such as Photoshop.</p>
<p>If we look at the painting from this perspective, then there is a remarkable connection with Hockney’s more recent works. <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/david-hockney">Since the 1980s</a>, Hockney has been inspired by – and has used widely – new imaging technologies: video, digital photography, and mobile devices such as iPads. And although these works <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/feb/06/david-hockney-review-tate-britain">stand far from the merit of his earlier practice</a>, there is one characteristic that makes them particularly relevant to today’s media-saturated, “immaterial” culture: the frequent privileging of landscapes and spaces over people. </p>
<h2>Spectacles without spectators</h2>
<p>The Christie’s auction reveals that this shift should not be ignored or “undervalued”. It is an “<a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/arts/article/2018/11/16/vente-record-pour-une-toile-de-david-hockney-a-new-york_5384273_1655012.html">evolution of taste</a>” that could, perhaps, explain not only the price fetched by Hockney’s painting, but also the impressive shattering of the previous record for an artwork by a living artist – <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/jeff-koons-balloon-dog-sells-for-record-58m-along-with-francis-bacons-freud-portraits-8936712.html">Balloon Dog (Orange)</a> by Jeff Koons which sold of $58.4m in 2013. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246433/original/file-20181120-161638-1o8unhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246433/original/file-20181120-161638-1o8unhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246433/original/file-20181120-161638-1o8unhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246433/original/file-20181120-161638-1o8unhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246433/original/file-20181120-161638-1o8unhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246433/original/file-20181120-161638-1o8unhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246433/original/file-20181120-161638-1o8unhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog (Orange) which sold for $58.4m in 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christie's</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast to Koons’ postmodernist spectacle and its celebration of superficiality, Hockney’s work celebrates the deeper nature of the human psyche with discrete generosity. It embraces not only its two subjects (the two men of the painting), but also its spectators as the onlookers of a very private moment. This is a moment that could last forever, as we are drawn into it in a way that is similar to a never ending zoom-in. Yet, the meditative elements of Portrait could had never been captured with such clarity by even the most state-of-the-art camera, or piece of software. </p>
<p>This does not signify merely a hankering after an older style of painting, but rather a longing for an era when time had a different pace – both culturally and for our inner lives. Today, as our everyday routines are largely driven by the spectacular speed of our networked selves, people can be left behind more easily than ever. We can easily forget the action that is pausing, looking at ourselves and the people who are surrounding us. It is, perhaps, no coincidence that the absence of the human figure characterises the (recent) work of many of the artists who were featured alongside Hockney in the list of the <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/about/initiatives/the-art-market">top-selling artists for 2017</a>.</p>
<p>In that sense, the auction record set by Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) is a triumph of modernism – not only in art market or art historical terms, but also in much deeper cultural terms.</p>
<p>In Hockney’s modern world, intimacy and distance exist side by side, but they can still talk to each other. They can still take the time to do so. In today’s world – and in Hockney’s later, media-based works – this dialogue often feels impossible to take place. It is, perhaps, an irony that such media are often called “time-based”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107210/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Balaskas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
What does Hockey’s auction record for a living artist mean beyond the art market?
Bill Balaskas, Associate Professor in Visual Communication, Nottingham Trent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/104810
2018-10-19T10:36:19Z
2018-10-19T10:36:19Z
Banksy and the tradition of destroying art
<p>When the British street artist Banksy shredded his “Girl With Balloon” after it was purchased for US$1.4 million at <a href="http://www.cnn.com/style/article/banksy-painting-self-destructs-auction-trnd/">Sotheby’s</a>, did he know how the art world would react?</p>
<p>Did he anticipate that the critics would <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/10/06/banksy-painting-sold-auction-million-then-automatically-shredded-itself/?utm_term=.aa7ba518e62c">claim</a> that the work, in its partially shredded state, would climb in value to at least $2 million? That the purchaser <a href="https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/a23760293/banksy-shredded-doubled-value/">would not object</a> and would instead rejoice? </p>
<p>We have no way of really knowing, though the famously anonymous artist <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/107939181/banksy-posts-video-saying-incomplete-shredding-was-a-malfunction">did suggest that the shredder malfunctioned</a>: The painting was supposed to be fully shredded, not partially destroyed. </p>
<p>As an art historian, I view his act in a larger context – as the latest example of artists deploying guerrilla tactics to expose their disdain for the critics, dealers, gallery owners and museum curators whom they depend on for their livelihood.</p>
<p>In shredding “Girl With Balloon,” Banksy seems to be pointing to a central absurdity of his graffiti art being treated as fine art. When it appears on city streets, anyone can vandalize it; now that the same images are in galleries and auction houses, they must be handled with white gloves. </p>
<p>But, as he may well know, the art market is far too wealthy and adaptable to be undone by a shredder. </p>
<p>In fact, we’ve seen the same pattern play out, time and again: An artist will launch a withering critique and instead of taking offense, the market simply tightens its embrace.</p>
<h2>The many versions of subversion</h2>
<p>Some of the most well-known of Banksy’s subversive artistic predecessors were part of the early-20th century <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Dada">Dada movement</a>. One of their principal strategies involved denying the market of objects that could be commodified. </p>
<p>French-American artist Marcel Duchamp is perhaps the most well-known Dadaist. In 1917, his “<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573">Fountain</a>,” a urinal laid on its back and remounted on a pedestal, was his first volley against the art market’s intellectual pretenses about art. </p>
<p>Duchamp wanted to force the art world to acknowledge that its judgments about quality were based on media hype and money rather than artistic innovation. </p>
<p>However, years later <a href="http://www.golob-gm.si/5-marcel-duchamp-as-rectified-readymade/h-aesthetic-indifference-of-marcel-duchamp-fountain.htm#FNanchor_52">Duchamp admitted</a> to the futility of his gesture. </p>
<p>“I threw … the urinal into their faces as a challenge,” he lamented, “and now they admire [it] for [its] aesthetic beauty.” </p>
<p>In 1920, Francis Picabia, a Cuban-French Dadaist would follow Duchamp’s lead and participate in a performance purposefully designed to provoke the French art world. </p>
<p>Before a Parisian audience gathered at the Palais des Fêtes, Picabia unveiled a chalk drawing entitled “Riz au Nez” (“Rice on the Nose”). The artist’s friend, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andre-Breton">André Breton</a>, one of the hosts of the event, then erased the drawing. The artwork lasted for just a of couple hours and is now lost to history. The work’s title, it’s been <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=SD2RZ3taYQUC&pg=PA512&lpg=PA512&dq=steven+whiting+picabia&source=bl&ots=UYgPVr2Q1W&sig=-PlhOJK5llsYJpPP3NqCiE_Yb9k&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjF8ffXnI_eAhUovFkKHWvDByIQ6AEwCHoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=steven%20whiting%20picabia&f=false">noted</a>, sounds too similar to “rire au nez” (“to laugh in one’s face”) to be coincidental. </p>
<p>In 1953, Robert Rauschenberg, who was then an up-and-coming American artist, plucked up the courage to ask Willem de Kooning, an established abstract expressionist, for one of his drawings. Rauschenberg didn’t tell de Kooning much – just that he intended to use it for an unusual project. Athough de Kooning was disapproving, he acquiesced. </p>
<p>After securing his gift, Rauschenberg proceeded, over the period of a month, to carefully erase all traces of the expressive pencil, charcoal and crayon drawing that de Kooning had put to paper. </p>
<p>Rauschenberg then re-titled the work, now preserved in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Art, “<a href="https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/98.298/research-materials/document/EDeK_98.298_031/">Erased de Kooning Drawing</a>.” </p>
<p>Jean Tinguely’s auto-destructing work, “<a href="https://vimeo.com/218619751">Homage to New York</a>” (1960), is probably the closest parallel to Banksy’s stunt. Made of scrap found in New Jersey junkyards, the massive work – 27 feet high and 23 feet in length – was supposed to be a mechanical display, sort of like <a href="https://www.rubegoldberg.com/">a Rube Goldberg device</a>.</p>
<p>The piece was set up the sculpture garden of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and those attending the show included collectors Walter Arensberg and John D. Rockefeller III, and artists John Cage, Mark Rothko and Robert Rauschenberg.</p>
<p>Tinguely briefly set the piece in motion – and then it burst into flames.</p>
<p>The Museum of Modern Art <a href="https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81174">described the scene</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“… a meteorological trial balloon inflated and burst, colored smoke was discharged, paintings were made and destroyed, and bottles crashed to the ground. A player piano, metal drums, a radio broadcast, a recording of the artist explaining his work, and a competing shrill voice correcting him provided the cacophonic sound track to the machine’s self-destruction – until it was stopped short by the fire department.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Apart from a fragment from Tinguely’s “Homage” preserved in the <a href="https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81174">MoMA collection</a>, all that remains of the work is some choppy film footage.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0MqsWqBX4wQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Some black and white film footage captured ‘Homeage to New York’ before it disappeared forever.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s difficult to imagine anyone surpassing Tinguely’s sound-and-light spectacle. </p>
<p>But in 2001, Michael Landy of the Young British Artists group orchestrated the most comprehensive “art as destruction” work to date.</p>
<p>Titled “<a href="http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160713-michael-landy-the-man-who-destroyed-all-his-belongings">Break Down</a>,” Landy placed objects on a conveyor belt running into a machine that pulverized them. In the process, he destroyed all of his belongings – 7,227 pieces in all – including his own paintings and the art of his Young British Artist peers. </p>
<h2>Guerrillas in the midst</h2>
<p>These acts of destruction are motivated by the same impulse.</p>
<p>In the late 19th century, art production largely <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/modern-europe/british-and-irish-history/artistic-patronage">became untethered from patronage offered by the church or the state</a>, and artists turned to powerful art dealers for their livelihood.</p>
<p>But many found that the radical, critical aspect of the artistic act was severely compromised – or erased altogether – when the most well-known feature of a work became the dollar sign attached to it. </p>
<p>To many, the market symbolized nothing more than a void. </p>
<p>With the urban street as his studio and insurgency as part of his artistic mission, Banksy’s graffiti often critiques institutions, such as the art museum, and authority figures like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/apr/21/banksy-kissing-copppers-sold-america">the police</a>) and the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/9310201/Banksy-draws-the-Queen-as-Ziggy-Stardust.html">Queen of England</a>.</p>
<p>Though the market value of his work has soared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/arts/design/banksy-artwork-painting.html">recent years</a>, Banksy continues to paint images in public spaces that make preservation near impossible – and even invite theft or defacement. </p>
<p>Still, as guerrilla theater, Banksy’s recent act will be tough to beat. It’s certainly his most subversive and penetrating public foray into the elite art marketplace.</p>
<p>But even with all his critique, the question continues to nag: Is Banksy complicit with the art market? The very society he undermines, one that feeds on spectacle, has made him famous and his art immensely <a href="https://www.widewalls.ch/10-most-expensive-banksy-artworks-at-auctions/think-tank/">profitable</a>. </p>
<p>In the wake of World War I, Dadaist artists made a practice of shocking their public audiences by wantonly destroying their own artistic creations. The public soon learned to cheer them on, and to detach themselves from the attack artists were actively waging on their sensibilities. </p>
<p>A century later, at Sotheby’s, the initial shock of a shredded “Girl With Balloon” dissipated quickly. The hype only grew. The market adapted.</p>
<p>Sotheby’s has since released a <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/latest-banksy-artwork-love-is-in-the-bin-created-live-at-auction">statement</a> declaring that the piece – renamed “Love is in the Bin” – is “the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Preminda Jacob does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
When artists destroy their works, it’s usually to express their disdain for critics, dealers and curators. But does this get lost in the attention, hype and money that follows?
Preminda Jacob, Associate Professor of Art History and Museum Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/104381
2018-10-17T10:27:40Z
2018-10-17T10:27:40Z
Meet AICAN, a machine that operates as an autonomous artist
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240835/original/file-20181016-165894-1roqcov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Psychedelic,' an image created by the algorithm AICAN.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahmed Elgammal</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/pintor-o-robot-aican-es-una-maquina-que-funciona-como-artista-autonomo-105189">Leer en español</a></em>.</p>
<p>When artificial intelligence has been used to create works of art, a human artist has always exerted a significant element of control over the creative process.</p>
<p>But what if a machine were programmed to create art on its own, with little to no human involvement? What if it were the primary creative force in the process? And if it were to create something novel, engaging and moving, who should get credit for this work?</p>
<p>At Rutgers’ <a href="http://digihumanlab.rutgers.edu">Art & AI Lab</a>, we created AICAN, a program that could be thought of as a nearly autonomous artist that has learned existing styles and aesthetics and can generate innovate images of its own. </p>
<p>People genuinely like AICAN’s work, and can’t distinguish it from that of human artists. Its pieces have been exhibited worldwide, and one even recently sold for $16,000 at an auction.</p>
<h2>An emphasis on novelty</h2>
<p>When designing the algorithm, we adhered to a theory proposed by psychologist <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-24768-009">Colin Martindale</a>. </p>
<p>He hypothesized that many artists will seek to make their works appealing by rejecting existing forms, subjects and styles that the public has become accustomed to. Artists seem to intuitively understand that they’re more likely to arouse viewers and capture their attention by doing something new. </p>
<p>In other words, novelty reigns. </p>
<p>So when programming AICAN, we used an algorithm called the “<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.07068">creative adversarial network</a>,” which compels AICAN to contend with two opposing forces. On one end, it tries to learn the aesthetics of existing works of art. On the other, it will be penalized if, when creating a work of its own, it too closely emulates an established style.</p>
<p>At the same time, AICAN adheres to what Martindale <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1990-98581-000">calls the “least effort”</a> principle, in which he argues that <em>too much</em> novelty will turn off viewers. </p>
<p>This ensures that the art generated will be novel but won’t depart too much from what’s considered acceptable. Ideally, it will create something new that builds off what already exists.</p>
<h2>Letting AICAN loose</h2>
<p>As for our role, we don’t select specific images to “teach” AICAN a certain aesthetic or style, <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-line-between-machine-and-artist-becomes-blurred-103149">as many artists who create AI art will do</a>. </p>
<p>Instead, we’ve fed the algorithm 80,000 images that represent the Western art canon over the previous five centuries. It’s somewhat like an artist taking an art history survey course, with no particular focus on a style or genre. </p>
<p>At the click of a button, the machine can create an image that can then be printed. The works will often surprise us in their range, sophistication and variation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240679/original/file-20181015-165921-1coxcl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240679/original/file-20181015-165921-1coxcl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240679/original/file-20181015-165921-1coxcl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240679/original/file-20181015-165921-1coxcl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240679/original/file-20181015-165921-1coxcl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240679/original/file-20181015-165921-1coxcl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240679/original/file-20181015-165921-1coxcl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240679/original/file-20181015-165921-1coxcl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Birth of Venus’ by AICAN.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahmed Elgammal</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/which-paintings-were-the-most-creative-of-their-time-an-algorithm-may-hold-the-answers-43157">Using our prior work on quantifying creativity</a>, AICAN can judge how creative its individual pieces are. Since it has also learned the titles used by artists and art historians in the past, the algorithm can even give names to the works it generates. It named one “Orgy”; it called another “The Beach at Pourville.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240680/original/file-20181015-165900-tshm3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240680/original/file-20181015-165900-tshm3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240680/original/file-20181015-165900-tshm3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240680/original/file-20181015-165900-tshm3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240680/original/file-20181015-165900-tshm3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240680/original/file-20181015-165900-tshm3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240680/original/file-20181015-165900-tshm3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Beach at Pourville’ by AICAN.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahmed Elgammal</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The algorithm favors generating more abstract works than figurative ones. Our research on <a href="https://medium.com/@ahmed_elgammal/the-shape-of-art-history-in-the-eyes-of-the-machine-6c9090257263">how the machine is able to understand the evolution of art history</a> could offer an explanation. Because it’s tasked with creating something new, AICAN is likely building off more recent trends in art history, like abstract art, which came into vogue in the 20th century. </p>
<h2>Can humans tell the difference?</h2>
<p>There was still the question of how people would respond to AICAN’s work.</p>
<p>To test this, we showed subjects AICAN images and works created by human artists that were showcased at Art Basel, an annual fair that features cutting-edge contemporary art. We asked the participants whether each was made by a machine or an artist. </p>
<p><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.07068">We found that humans couldn’t tell the difference</a>: Seventy-five percent of the time, they thought the AICAN-generated images had been produced by a human artist. </p>
<p>They didn’t simply have a tough time distinguishing between the two. They genuinely enjoyed the computer-generated art, using words like “having visual structure,” “inspiring” and “communicative” when describing AICAN’s work.</p>
<p>Beginning in October 2017, we started exhibiting AICAN’s work at venues in Frankfurt, Los Angles, New York City and San Francisco, with a different set of images for each show. </p>
<p>At the exhibitions, we heard one question, time and again: Who’s the artist? </p>
<p>As a scientist, I created the algorithm, but I have no control over what the machine will generate. </p>
<p>The machine chooses the style, the subject, the composition, the colors and the texture. Yes, I set the framework, but the algorithm is fully at the helm when it comes to the elements and the principles of the art it generates. </p>
<p>For this reason, in the all exhibitions where the art was shown, I gave credit solely to the algorithm – “AICAN” – for each artwork. At Miami’s Art Basel this December, eight pieces, also credited to AICAN, will be shown. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240277/original/file-20181011-154539-1h4rn3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240277/original/file-20181011-154539-1h4rn3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240277/original/file-20181011-154539-1h4rn3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240277/original/file-20181011-154539-1h4rn3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240277/original/file-20181011-154539-1h4rn3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240277/original/file-20181011-154539-1h4rn3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240277/original/file-20181011-154539-1h4rn3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240277/original/file-20181011-154539-1h4rn3h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Samples of artworks generated by AICAN that will be shown in the SCOPE Art Fair in conjunction with Art Basel Miami in December 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahmed Elgammal</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first artwork that was offered for sale from the AICAN collection, which AICAN titled “St. George Killing the Dragon,” was sold for $16,000 at an auction in New York in November 2017. (Most of the proceeds went to fund research at Rutgers and the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in France.)</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237816/original/file-20180924-85779-15v0ety.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237816/original/file-20180924-85779-15v0ety.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237816/original/file-20180924-85779-15v0ety.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237816/original/file-20180924-85779-15v0ety.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237816/original/file-20180924-85779-15v0ety.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237816/original/file-20180924-85779-15v0ety.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237816/original/file-20180924-85779-15v0ety.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237816/original/file-20180924-85779-15v0ety.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘St. George Killing the Dragon’ was sold for $16,000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahmed Elgammal</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What the computer can’t do</h2>
<p>Still, there’s something missing in AICAN’s artistic process. </p>
<p>The algorithm might create appealing images. But it lives in an isolated creative space that lacks social context. </p>
<p>Human artists, on the other hand, are inspired by people, places and politics. They make art to tell stories and make sense of the world. </p>
<p>AICAN lacks any of that. It can, however, generate artwork that human curators can then ground in our society and connect to what’s happening around us. That’s just what we did with “Alternative Facts: The Multi Faces of Untruth,” a title we gave to a series of portraits generated by AICAN that struck us with its timely serendipity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240497/original/file-20181014-109242-15c13mb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240497/original/file-20181014-109242-15c13mb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240497/original/file-20181014-109242-15c13mb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240497/original/file-20181014-109242-15c13mb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240497/original/file-20181014-109242-15c13mb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240497/original/file-20181014-109242-15c13mb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240497/original/file-20181014-109242-15c13mb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240497/original/file-20181014-109242-15c13mb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=719&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Alternative Facts: The Multi Faces of Untruth’ by AICAN was exhibited at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahmed Elgammal</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, just because machines can almost autonomously produce art, it doesn’t mean they will replace artists. It simply means that artists will have an additional creative tool at their disposal, one they could even collaborate with.</p>
<p>I often compare AI art to photography. When photography was first invented in the early 19th century, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-photography-evolved-from-science-to-art-37146">it wasn’t considered art</a> – after all, a machine was doing much of the work. </p>
<p>The tastemakers resisted, but eventually relented: A century later, photography became an established fine art genre. Today, photographs are exhibited in museums and auctioned off at astronomical prices. </p>
<p>I have no doubt that art produced by artificial intelligence will go down the same path.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>To read “When the Line Between Machine and Artist Becomes Blurred,” the first part of this two-part series on AI art, <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-line-between-machine-and-artist-becomes-blurred-103149">click here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Proceeds from the sale of AICAN's art has funded Rutgers' Art & AI Lab.</span></em></p>
An algorithm named AICAN has been ‘taught’ the entire canon of Western art history – and now produces, titles and sells works of its own.
Ahmed Elgammal, Professor, Director of the Art & AI Lab, Rutgers University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/103562
2018-09-26T12:57:47Z
2018-09-26T12:57:47Z
Gerard Sekoto: apartheid era tastes are still borne out at art auctions
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237290/original/file-20180920-129877-bdnag1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gerard Sekoto's 'Three school girls'; oil on board.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bonhams London</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When two recently discovered paintings by revered South African artist <a href="http://gerardsekotofoundation.com/artist-overview.htm">Gerard Sekoto</a> (1913-1993) – <em>Portrait of a Man (Lentswana)</em> and <em>Three School Girls</em> – went on auction at Bonhams London early in September 2018, there was some anticipation about what kind of prices they would fetch. When the hammer fell they <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/press_release/26520/">garnered</a> just over £380,000 and £300,000 respectively. </p>
<p>In pound sterling terms it was way off the record set for Sekoto’s <em>Yellow Doors, District Six</em>, which sold at the same auction house for just over £600,000 in March 2011. But in South African rand terms – and using exchange rates at the time of the purchases – the sales look rosier at R7,45-million and R6 million, compared to 2011’s R6,8-million for <em>Yellow Doors</em>. </p>
<p>While the fluctuating and often volatile exchange rate creates a certain amount of confusion about how to read and understand Sekoto’s work relative to the different markets in which it sells, his work consistently (and significantly so, given his pedigree in South African art history) under-performs in relation to the likes of compatriot <a href="http://www.irmastern.co.za/">Irma Stern</a> (1894-1966). </p>
<p>At the same Bonham’s sale in March 2011 that saw <em>Yellow Doors, District Six</em> sell for a record sterling price, so too did Stern’s <em>Arab Priest</em> sell for a touch over £3-million (R34,3-million at the time). Stern holds eight of the 10 auction records for South African art.</p>
<p>One does not want to undermine the extent to which Stern bucks the international precedent in which auction records are dominated by male artists. But in many ways her prominence in the South African art market represents the resilience of apartheid era tastes and preferences, which at the time largely overlooked the quality of concurrent black artists. And through the public performance of the auction, this same preference is visibly borne out every time the hammer falls.</p>
<h2>Contemporary offers</h2>
<p>So, what is it that’s keeping the likes of Sekoto’s work off the boil? There are at least six factors to consider.</p>
<p>First is the greater (and increasing) preference for the contemporary over the historical. In 2017 the Barloworld corporation sold off most of its <a href="https://auctions.citizen.co.za/strauss-cos-last-auction/">historical collection</a> at auction to fund a new focus on contemporary art, particularly photography. </p>
<p>Most of the offloaded works were by white artists. Nonetheless the auction reflects a view that the historical is compromised and too difficult to associate with. For many corporates the contemporary offers a slate that is more alive, easier to inhabit, and hipper. Sadly, in this view (dare I say prejudice), black artists like Sekoto get whitewashed and swept out the door along with all the other historical artists.</p>
<p>Second is the alienating environment of the art world itself. While events such as the <a href="http://fnbjoburgartfair.co.za/">Joburg Art Fair</a> has gone out if its way to present a programme that isn’t as narrowly white as in the past, there are few opportunities to purchase historical artworks. And if it’s not a privately brokered deal, the best opportunity to purchase a Sekoto is at auction. </p>
<p>All the South African auction houses that attract quality works by Sekoto are white owned, run and patronised. If you’re not white it’s hardly a welcoming environment in which to enjoy spending millions on art. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237294/original/file-20180920-129856-161s8zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237294/original/file-20180920-129856-161s8zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237294/original/file-20180920-129856-161s8zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237294/original/file-20180920-129856-161s8zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237294/original/file-20180920-129856-161s8zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237294/original/file-20180920-129856-161s8zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237294/original/file-20180920-129856-161s8zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=856&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sekoto’s Portrait of a Man - Lentswana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bonhams London</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Third is how art auctions frame their sales, particularly those that take place in London. Bonhams started its South Africa sales in 2006. Country-specific auctions are not uncommon, but for a country like South Africa, whose art history is a relative mystery compared to North America and Europe, it can leave it a little isolated. </p>
<p>When isolated like this it’s more difficult for collectors wanting to build a meaningful collection to find affinities and connections with artists from elsewhere in the world. It remains to be seen whether Sotheby’s London, in choosing to start a modern and contemporary <a href="http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2018/modern-contemporary-african-art-l18801.html">African art sale</a> in 2017, will find better traction for the likes of Sekoto in a wider African context. </p>
<p>Fourth is the lack of wider and sustained government support for artists whose works should more meaningfully constitute national heritage. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://nationalgovernment.co.za/units/view/168/south-african-heritage-resources-agency-sahra">South African Heritage Resource Agency</a> does flex its muscles by refusing export permits for artworks that are deemed to have cultural and heritage significance. But this is a double-edged sword. While artworks remain in South Africa it also restricts buyers to a local pool. </p>
<p>The Department of Arts and Culture, under then minister <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/brigitte-sylvia-mabandla">Brigitte Mabandla</a>, was instrumental in brokering the return of Sekoto’s estate from France where he died in exile in 1993. It also managed to have the crippling French death taxes waived. </p>
<p>But the South African government has since reneged on most opportunities to cement Sekoto’s legacy.</p>
<p>Fifth is the lack of sustained momentum around research on Sekoto’s oeuvre. First introduced to Sekoto by academic <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chabani-manganyi-278925">Chabani Manganyi</a>, historian Barbara Lindop’s <a href="http://gerardsekotofoundation.com/artist-biographical-index.htm">“Gerard Sekoto”</a> (1988) remains the definitive catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work. Along with the publication of Manganyi’s <a href="http://asai.co.za/publication/a-black-man-called-sekoto/">“A Black Man Called Sekoto”</a> in 1996, it seemed we were set for a bibliography of scholarly work on Sekoto. But this was not to be. </p>
<p>The absence on new works on Sekoto stands in stark contrast to the richness of scholarly works on Irma Stern, and importantly, by a wide range of scholars.</p>
<p>And finally, there’s the role of families and foundations in continuing artistic legacies. The <a href="http://gerardsekotofoundation.com/index.html">Gerard Sekoto Foundation</a> was set up at the insistence of the French government as a precondition for them wavering the death taxes. It is an organisation that survives largely on the passion and generosity of its founder member, Lindop. </p>
<p>Without any evident support from Sekoto’s family, Lindop is a lone crusader against the Sekoto fakes, copies and stolen works that so often undermine an artist’s prices. It’s unrelenting work, and without the prospect of handing over her vast visual knowledge to a new generation of champion. </p>
<p>The Sekoto Foundation is currently under the umbrella of the <a href="http://www.norvalfoundation.org/">Norval Foundation</a>. But its own museum seems more invested in the alumnus of white art history such as <a href="https://www.everard-read.co.za/artist/EDOARDO_VILLA/biography/">Edoardo Villa</a> and <a href="http://cecilskotnes.com/">Cecil Skotnes</a>. Whether this relationship is sustainable in the long term remains to be seen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rory Bester does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
South Africa’s government reneged on opportunities to cement artist Gerard Sekoto’s legacy.
Rory Bester, Associate Professor of Art History and Deputy Head of the Wits School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/87710
2017-11-17T17:01:14Z
2017-11-17T17:01:14Z
No matter who bought it, we hope Leonardo’s $450m masterpiece won’t disappear from the public view
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195229/original/file-20171117-19245-19fdbhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">h</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42000696">sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi</a> for US$450m (£342m) raised many of the familiar questions about the authenticity of the painting, the astronomical sums of money paid for single works of art that bear no relation to anything else openly sold – and the audience for this image in the future.</p>
<p>Is this painting by Leonardo? For many years the painting was thought to be the work of an artist (some people believed <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/giovanni-antonio-boltraffio">Giovanni Boltraffio</a>) in da Vinci’s circle. But after careful cleaning and <a href="https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Salvator-Mundi.html">analysis by scholars</a>, before and since it appeared in the National Gallery’s exhibition of 2011-12, there is now a <a href="http://time.com/5028341/leonardo-da-vinci-salvator-mundi-authentication/">fairly general consensus</a> that the work is authentic. The auction house which sold the painting, Christie’s, has also conducted a <a href="http://www.christies.com/features/Salvator-Mundi-timeline-8644-3.aspx">clever publicity campaign</a> to promote its authenticity.</p>
<p>So far, television pundits have been more prominent in talking about the sale than established Leonardo scholars – but many factors add up to a likelihood that what we are seeing here is a Leonardo original of around 1500, towards the end of his time in Milan.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hCHD-6s2tes?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The painting is <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/timeline-salvator-mundi-went-45-to-450-million-59-years-1150661">thought to have been commissioned</a> by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-XII">Louis XII of France</a> and Anne of Brittany, shortly after the conquests of Milan and Genoa. From there it accompanied Louis’ descendant, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henrietta-Maria">Queen Henrietta Maria</a>, to England when she married Charles I. After his execution it was sold into the Royal Collection in part payment of the late king’s debts. From there it disappeared in the 18th century. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195233/original/file-20171117-19320-769ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195233/original/file-20171117-19320-769ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195233/original/file-20171117-19320-769ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195233/original/file-20171117-19320-769ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195233/original/file-20171117-19320-769ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=974&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195233/original/file-20171117-19320-769ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=974&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195233/original/file-20171117-19320-769ug4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=974&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Looks authentic: Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The chain of evidence is not ideal, but many details of the painting share a handling of paint with other long-attested Leonardo pictures. But it has a very different “presence” to his portraits, which betray Leonardo’s fascination with subtle shifts of thought and movement by their sitters. By contrast, this is a miraculous image of the Saviour of the World – his features based on long-venerated images of Christ that were superstitiously believed not to have been created by human hands, but by some divine force, a little like the image of Christ on the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zssf34j">Turin Shroud</a> was believed to be supernaturally created. The perfection of the rock crystal of the orb, delicately conveyed in its highlights, echoes this sense of the divine.</p>
<h2>Record-breaking price</h2>
<p>How does a painting like this command such as high sum in the auction room? No painting by Leonardo has ever come up for auction – and the last sale was the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fifty-years-ago-the-national-gallery-of-art-dispatched-a-team-on-a-secret-mission/2017/08/22/9235bb0e-873f-11e7-a50f-e0d4e6ec070a_story.html?utm_term=.130b6ede7b69">Ginevra de’ Benci</a> from the Leichtenstein collection to Washington’s National Gallery 50 years ago. The gallery paid US$5m – at that time for highest price ever achieved for a work of art.</p>
<p>Add to this the reported sale of Salvator Mundi for £45 at Sotheby’s in 1958 – when it was still thought to have been painted by Boltraffio – and you have a first-rate art history romance.</p>
<p>The likely competitors at auction for Salvator Mundi (we do not know at present who they were) deal in billions, so a contest between them drove up the price. One conclusion of course is that such a work is “worth” that sum only to the person who has paid for it. Interestingly, all other paintings that have commanded prices in excess of US$100m <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42000696">are works by great 20th-century masters</a>, Picasso, Bacon, de Kooning.</p>
<p>The glamour of 20th-century modernism has proved the most attractive to buyers who want large-scale works for company offices or to stamp their name as benefactors in the creation of new museums in the Middle East or East Asia.</p>
<h2>Will Salvator Mundi disappear?</h2>
<p>This makes us wonder who will now see Leonardo’s painting? It will certainly not prove to have been one of the established museums of Europe or the United States as the buyer, the price is way beyond their reach even with the most generous of donors behind them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195237/original/file-20171117-19250-1659384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195237/original/file-20171117-19250-1659384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195237/original/file-20171117-19250-1659384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195237/original/file-20171117-19250-1659384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195237/original/file-20171117-19250-1659384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195237/original/file-20171117-19250-1659384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195237/original/file-20171117-19250-1659384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Will the new Louvre in Abu Dhabi be home to Salvator Mundi?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Philip Lange via Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It may well have been purchased for one of the several new “floating island” museums of the Middle East, such as <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2016/06/22/louvre-abu-dhabi-floating/">the new Louvre in Abu Dhabi</a>.</p>
<p>We have entered a time when those with such sums to spare often see it as self-serving to place their purchases into the public realm – and we hopefully are now adult and generous enough not to think such things necessarily have to stay close to their place of origin. The main thing is that they are accessible to a wide public. </p>
<p>Thanks to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/aug/12/art-move-curators">increasingly regular loans between museums</a> and the enthusiasm of private collectors to lend art for exhibitions, the doing of deals for temporary exchanges of works of art are now commonplace. I suspect many across the world will see the Leonardo again.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maurice Howard receives funding from Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Leverhulme Trust and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.</span></em></p>
Salvator Mundi is the most expensive painting ever to be sold. It remains to be seen who bought it and where it will be kept.
Maurice Howard, Professor Emeritus of Art History, University of Sussex
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/54928
2017-07-13T11:29:36Z
2017-07-13T11:29:36Z
Why archaeological antiquities should not be sold on the open market, full stop
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178051/original/file-20170713-27137-16nqhhy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anton_Ivanov / Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Illicit antiquities are once again in the headlines. US retailer <a href="https://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2017/us-retailer-fined-after-seizure-of-illegally-imported-cultural-property/">Hobby Lobby was recently fined US$3m</a> (£2.3m) for illegally acquiring antiquities that were most likely looted from Iraq. Collectors and museums are therefore being reminded to undertake due diligence in checking collections’ histories before purchasing cultural property. </p>
<p>The implication here is, of course, that when the item on the auction block has been legally excavated and diligently recorded by archaeologists, there isn’t a problem. This is an enormous mistake. Such sales may be legal, but they are still ethically problematic.</p>
<p>At its most direct, the public auction of archaeologically procured finds puts those objects at risk of disappearing into the private domain, where their integrity is no longer assured. There are no international legal protections, no “obligations of ownership”, for cultural property in private possession.</p>
<p>More broadly, the legal status of these sales confers an air of legitimacy to the antiquities trade. Yet as <a href="http://traffickingculture.org/">scholars</a> have demonstrated, however one looks at it this is a “<a href="http://ccj.sagepub.com/content/24/3/225.abstract">grey trade</a>”. Illicit antiquities – that is things without provenance, accompanied by fake documents or with opaque ownership histories – are likely to be offered at the same sales. <a href="http://traffickingculture.org/publications/tsirogiannis-c-2015-due-diligence-christies-antiquities-auction-london-october-2015-journal-of-art-crime-fall-27-37/">Examples</a> of illicit antiquities pulled from a Christie’s auction in 2015 are a case in point.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112972/original/image-20160225-15141-4r20r5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flinders Petrie in the field documenting recently excavated artefacts, c. 1900.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Inflating prices</h2>
<p>The origin of items offered by auction houses is supposed to be subjected to close scrutiny. This seems reassuring, but there’s a worry that the records of discovery made by archaeologists now not only certifies auction lots, but also inflates their monetary worth. And this in a wider art market where prices have <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jan/17/art-market-mania-phase-bubble-report">never been higher</a> and is at risk of <a href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-01/uol-ita010616.php">severe overheating</a>.</p>
<p>Whether they covet Old Masters or ancient pots, many bidders seek to acquire cultural capital – not out of some sort of honed connoisseurship or a sense of societal patronage – but as immediate monetary investments and as symbols of financial wealth. Exceptional prices are translated into headline news, reducing heritage to economic value and undermining attempts to promote meaningful engagements with the past. Sales from museums in this context threaten public trust in them.</p>
<p>Most seriously of all, these exorbitant prices and their media profile fuel market demand and become an incentive for looting. When heritage is sold by and for the privileged it is those that live in proximity to archaeological sites that stand to lose the most. It denies source communities the long-term touristic potential of sites, especially in countries where there is political and economic volatility or instability. </p>
<p>Looting can have devastating consequences – <a href="http://art-crime.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/one-killed-one-injured-at.html">lives have been lost</a>. Well-meaning efforts to protect heritage <em>in situ</em> <a href="http://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/29102015-bm-to-help-iraq-reconstruct-archaeological-sites">have been advocated</a>, but there needs to be more recognition that the problem often begins and ends with the art markets of Europe, North America and Asia.</p>
<h2>Public to private</h2>
<p>Despite all of these problems, sales of “licit” archaeological finds are still generally seen as unproblematic. Just how embedded this problem is can be seen from a case from October 2014, when two lots of Egyptian antiquities from the Archaeological Institute of America (AIAs) St Louis Chapter were offered for sale at Bonhams, London.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21928/lot/160/">Lot 160</a> was billed as “the treasure of Harageh” and comprised a group of 4,000-year old stone vessels and rare examples of inlaid silver jewellery. <a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21928/lot/162/">Lot 162</a> was made up of a single stone headrest. The former was removed from auction following the intercession of the <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/press-room/news/2014/egyptian-haraga">Metropolitan Museum of Art</a> and a private sale to it for an undisclosed sum, while the latter exceeded its estimated price at auction and disappeared into private hands.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/112971/original/image-20160225-15174-mtjsue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Bonhams material in 1914.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Petrie Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These artefacts were originally discovered during excavations conducted under the auspices of Flinders Petrie’s British School of Archaeology in Egypt (<a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/archaeology/petriedigsindex.html">BSAE</a>), who had regulations on where objects should go. The finds were legally removed from Egypt, they were fully documented, duly published by the BSAE and a few delivered to the St Louis Museum in 1914 under the understanding that these were for public benefit, not for private profit. A century later the St Louis AIA branch contravened that agreement.</p>
<p>There were other options. The objects could have been donated to another institution capable of ensuring their long-term care and public accessibility (even if held in storage). But instead, they went straight to the auction house.</p>
<h2>Time to speak out</h2>
<p>When this auction was announced, a colleague and I condemned it in a public <a href="http://ees.ac.uk/news/index/279.html">statement</a>. But many believed our reaction was melodramatic. As far as they were concerned the sale was completely above board. It did not even breach AIA’s own ethical codes, which at the time only denounced the “trade in undocumented artifacts”.</p>
<p>But given the hugely problematic implications of selling material on the open market, <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=10183553&jid=AQY&volumeId=90&issueId=349&aid=10183552&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=&fulltextType=DS&fileId=S0003598X1500188X">we must be vocal</a> in denouncing instances in which archaeological heritage is commercialised in this way. The former editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Archaeology <a href="http://www.ajaonline.org/editorial/1946">agreed</a>. This is especially important given the current ideology of austerity in many countries, leading to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/arts/design/seeing-a-cash-cow-in-museums-precious-art.html?_r=0">concerns</a> that institutions may begin to consider their public collections as financial assets rather than as cultural obligations.</p>
<p>Yet museums still dispose of heritage from other countries on the open market. Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio <a href="http://theartnewspaper.com/news/museums/outcry-after-toledo-museum-of-art-sells-ancient-greek-and-egyptian-objects-at-auction/">sold ancient Egyptian artefacts</a> from its founding collection in Winter 2016 through Christie’s, despite an outcry from the Egyptian authorities. At the same time, <a href="http://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wpmedia.outlandish.com/trafficking/2017/07/07085251/Museum-Ethics-and-the-Toledo-Museum-of-Art-Tsirogiannis-JAC-Spring-2017.pdf">it has been shown</a> that other parts of Toledo’s collection which are being retained are likely to include illicit antiquities.</p>
<p>We have a strong moral obligation to challenge these “legal” sales. Over the last two centuries, millions of archaeological artefacts have been excavated and exported by rich colonial nations from developing countries whose own resources are now desperately stretched as they attempt to halt the destructive looting of their heritage for a first world market. At the very least we should be responsible and accountable on their behalf for material we <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/petrie/research/research-projects/AHRC_project">excavated and exported</a>. We should not condone those that seek financial profit from the past, which is the sole objective of auction houses.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54928/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Stevenson receives funding from the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and is Chair of the Association of Curators of Collections for Egypt and Sudan. </span></em></p>
Sales of antiquities legally excavated are just as ethically problematic as those likely looted.
Alice Stevenson, Senior Lecturer in Museum Studies, UCL
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/79804
2017-07-06T23:05:43Z
2017-07-06T23:05:43Z
Andrew Wyeth and the artist’s fragile reputation
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177147/original/file-20170706-18727-s4bd9y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Andrew Wyeth stands by a creek on his Chadd's Ford, Pennsylvania property in 1964.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-AP-A-PA-USA-APHS457566-Andrew-Wyeth/aee7a88256eb466aaba32a8c8cba6361/66/0">AP Photo/Bill Ingraham</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I vividly recall my first encounter with Andrew Wyeth’s art when I was 14 years old, in the dingy galleries of Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum.</p>
<p>While giants like Picasso painted a world of artistic contrivance, Wyeth seemed to directly confront real life with an immediacy that I hadn’t encountered before. Yes, his drawings, watercolors and paintings seemed to capture the ramshackle character of New England with perfect accuracy. But they were also imbued with a powerful range of emotions: loneliness, the burdens of the past, the fragility of physical things, the struggle against a harsh climate and barren soil. </p>
<p>After this first encounter, I became a true believer in Wyeth’s work. It’s an opinion I still hold, though I’m aware that many others don’t share it.</p>
<p>On July 12, Wyeth would have turned 100. Over the course of his life and into his death, his reputation has weathered a whiplash of ups and downs and polarized opinion. In 1977, when the art historian Robert Rosenblum was asked to name the most overrated and underrated American artists, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/world/americas/16iht-wyeth.3.19430663.html">he nominated</a> Andrew Wyeth for both categories.</p>
<p>How can we explain these dramatic shifts? And what do they say about how critics and artistic movements influence an artist’s legacy? </p>
<h2>A star is born</h2>
<p>From the 1940s to the 1960s, Andrew Wyeth achieved acclaim seldom, if ever, given to an American artist. On three occasions, major American museums acquired paintings he had made, with each purchase setting a new record for a living artist. In 1963, he appeared on <a href="http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19631227,00.html">the cover of Time magazine</a>. Eight years later, Life magazine <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8D8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA1&vq=wyath&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=wyeth&f=false">anointed him</a> “America’s preeminent painter.” </p>
<p>The great connoisseur of Italian art, Bernard Berenson, wrote admirably about Wyeth’s work in his diary. The poet Robert Frost was an enthusiastic fan. The statesmen Winston Churchill, when he visited Boston, made arrangements to have Wyeth watercolors hang in his hotel room at the Ritz.</p>
<p>Some of his most passionate supporters were closely associated with the creation of the Museum of Modern Art: Lincoln Kirstein (the founder of the New York City Ballet), Elaine de Kooning (the art critic, painter and wife of the great abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning) and, most notably, Alfred Barr, the museum’s legendary founding director.</p>
<p>Barr, in fact, tracked Wyeth’s artistic progress with the obsessiveness of a stalker, just missing an opportunity to acquire a painting in 1941. He made up for his mistake in 1949, when he acquired Wyeth’s “Christina’s World.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177143/original/file-20170706-14401-14b1zg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177143/original/file-20170706-14401-14b1zg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177143/original/file-20170706-14401-14b1zg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177143/original/file-20170706-14401-14b1zg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177143/original/file-20170706-14401-14b1zg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177143/original/file-20170706-14401-14b1zg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177143/original/file-20170706-14401-14b1zg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Andrew Wyeth’s 1948 painting ‘Christina’s World’ propelled him to fame.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2925/14267030492_9a278082a4_b.jpg">The Museum of Modern Art, NY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The painting quickly became one of the most popular works in the museum. Thomas Hoving, who later became director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said he would sometimes visit the museum to study this one painting alone. “Christina’s World” was one of the first widely distributed color posters, and it became a popular addition to college dorm rooms. </p>
<p>Within a decade the museum had earned, from reproduction rights, over 100 times what it had paid for the painting. Wyeth had created an iconic image, a painting so unforgettable that it became implanted in the minds of millions of Americans.</p>
<h2>From illustrator to artist</h2>
<p>The achievement was particularly notable because Wyeth rose to prominence just when realistic painting was going out of fashion.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177149/original/file-20170706-29221-10nembb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177149/original/file-20170706-29221-10nembb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177149/original/file-20170706-29221-10nembb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177149/original/file-20170706-29221-10nembb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177149/original/file-20170706-29221-10nembb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177149/original/file-20170706-29221-10nembb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177149/original/file-20170706-29221-10nembb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177149/original/file-20170706-29221-10nembb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">N.C. Wyeth created dramatic illustrations for the 1911 edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:One_More_Step,_Mr._Hands.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Abstract painting was elbowing everything else aside, and painters who had won national awards and acclaim in the 1930s were now finding that they needed to support themselves as illustrators, a profession that was increasingly derided as commercial. </p>
<p>In fact, Wyeth had close ties with the world of illustration: His father, N.C. Wyeth, had been one of America’s most successful illustrators, the source of action-packed imagery that stirred the imaginations of American boys in books such as “The Black Arrow” and “Treasure Island.” As a teenager, under his father’s auspices, Wyeth even illustrated a few boys’ books of his own. </p>
<p>But as Wyeth matured as an artist, he started making paintings in a style very much at odds with that of most commercial illustrators. Colorful scenes of dramatic action were replaced with a world that was subdued in color, drained of dramatic activity and enigmatic in meaning. While his subject matter was generally rural, it was a vision that was very much aligned with the existential anxieties of the nuclear age. </p>
<p>He was obsessed with minor details, of what you can learn from objects that are easily overlooked. Absence – what’s not in the frame – also played a big role in his work. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177134/original/file-20170706-26465-17r6l0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177134/original/file-20170706-26465-17r6l0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177134/original/file-20170706-26465-17r6l0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177134/original/file-20170706-26465-17r6l0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177134/original/file-20170706-26465-17r6l0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177134/original/file-20170706-26465-17r6l0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177134/original/file-20170706-26465-17r6l0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177134/original/file-20170706-26465-17r6l0v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Andrew Wyeth’s ‘Groundhog Day’ (1959).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/57405.html">© Andrew Wyeth</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, Wyeth’s painting “<a href="http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/57405.html">Groundhog Day</a>” shows a sunny dining room with no one in it. It’s actually a displaced portrait of his neighbor Karl Kuerner, who fought for the Germans in World War I. Wyeth once told me Kuerner was the most brutal man he knew. </p>
<p>It takes a moment to notice that in this room – even with its cheerful yellow wallpaper – something’s not quite right. Karl’s place setting doesn’t contain a fork or spoon. There’s only a sharp knife. By taking out the thing we would normally expect in a portrait – a human figure – Wyeth makes us pay attention to things we wouldn’t usually notice, such as a place setting. </p>
<p>In significant ways, we get a richer (and scarier) sense of Karl Kuerner’s character than if Wyeth had physically depicted him in the frame. (Many good filmmakers, including those who have carefully studied Wyeth’s paintings, like M. Knight Shyamalan and Terrence Malick, use a similar approach.)</p>
<h2>The march of abstract expressionism</h2>
<p>But by the 1980s, Wyeth’s work was being savaged by critics. <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520280298">He was thought of as an anti-modernist and a reactionary</a>, a painter who had turned his back on the expressive techniques developed by figures like Matisse, Picasso and Jackson Pollock. To the critics, Wyeth was old-fashioned, someone constrained by outdated, 19th-century ways of seeing the world.</p>
<p>How did he become inflicted with what art historian Wanda Corn <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520280298">has called</a> “the Wyeth curse”? </p>
<p>Clearly, he was a victim of some larger cultural and political shifts. It’s not unlike what happened in Stalinist Russia, when revolutionary heroes were purged and were quite literally painted out of history paintings. At some point Andrew Wyeth no longer had a place in the official history of modern art. He had to be painted out. </p>
<p>During this period, the battle lines of the modernist movement were hardening. Many notable art critics, led by Clement Greenberg, believed that modern artists had engaged in a sort of lockstep march toward modes of expression that rejected an identifiable subject matter. These new paintings were increasingly flat and abstract, concerned chiefly with the arrangement of unrecognizable shapes and forms. </p>
<p>It left no room for a painting of a girl sprawled in a field, with a rustic house looming in the background – however dreamlike the scene might appear.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177152/original/file-20170706-26827-1txnura.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177152/original/file-20170706-26827-1txnura.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177152/original/file-20170706-26827-1txnura.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177152/original/file-20170706-26827-1txnura.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177152/original/file-20170706-26827-1txnura.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177152/original/file-20170706-26827-1txnura.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177152/original/file-20170706-26827-1txnura.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177152/original/file-20170706-26827-1txnura.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Vir Heroicus Sublimus,’ a painting by abstract expressionist Barnett Newman, is displayed in New York City’s Museum of Modern Art.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/youngdoo/146888345">YoungDoo M. Carey/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The logic of this “modernist march” was never very strong, since the works of some key modernist figures such as Jackson Pollock have great pictorial depth and don’t look flat. And the outcome of this progression was surely not very interesting – a painting that would be entirely flat and would represent nothing.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the critics had sharpened their knives. “Moving your eye” across Wyeth’s paintings, The New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahl <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=74WTcyn2Lg0C&lpg=PA150&dq=%22sledding%20on%20dirt%22&pg=PA150#v=onepage&q=%22sledding%20on%20dirt%22&f=false">wrote</a>, was “like sledding on dirt.” Critic Dave Hickey <a href="http://observer.com/2016/08/why-do-critics-still-hate-andrew-wyeth/">sneered</a> that Wyeth’s palette was made up of “mud and baby poop,” while the Oxford Dictionary of American Art and Artists <a href="http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195373219.001.0001/acref-9780195373219-e-1459">called him</a> a “popular realist” with “little conceptual originality.”</p>
<h2>Getting personal</h2>
<p>There were other forces at play.</p>
<p>I suspect that there was resentment about Wyeth’s success at a fairly early date. The Museum of Modern Art was largely formed around its collection of paintings by Pablo Picasso. It must have irked the staff that a painting by a young American upstart quickly became the most popular painting in the museum.</p>
<p>A major turning point, however, clearly occurred in 1976. On the surface, it was one of Wyeth’s most triumphant years: He was awarded a one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first time this honor had been bestowed upon a living artist.</p>
<p>Henry Geldzahler, the museum’s curator of modern art, was originally slated to curate the exhibition. But he abruptly pulled out, with the director of the museum, Thomas Hoving, taking his place. In fact, there’s a backstory to why Geldzahler reneged. He had asked Wyeth to gift him a major painting, “<a href="https://p1.liveauctioneers.com/1404/30399/11858255_1_x.jpg?version=1339621773">River Valley</a>.” The request went against basic standards of curatorial ethics, and Wyeth declined. In retaliation Geldzahler pulled out of the project and, according to Hoving, badmouthed Wyeth to his friends. </p>
<p>Whatever the exact cause, it was precisely around this time the New York art world – a surprisingly small place – decided that Andrew Wyeth was a pariah. It didn’t help that Wyeth sold most of his work through a network of dealers located outside New York. Notably, when the Museum of Modern Art celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1979, Andrew Wyeth wasn’t invited to the party, even though he had created the most famous American painting in the museum. </p>
<p>To this day, the museum exhibits a strange ambivalence towards Wyeth’s masterwork, “Christina’s World.” They refuse to lend it to major exhibitions – such as <a href="http://www.brandywine.org/museum/exhibitions/andrew-wyeth-retrospect">the centennial exhibitions</a> of Wyeth’s work now appearing around the country – on the grounds that it’s too valuable to part with. But for years it was separated from the rest of the museum’s collection, and hung in places that demeaned it – by the escalator, in front of the restaurant and next to the entrance of a bathroom. </p>
<h2>Wyeth today</h2>
<p>A decade ago, a career-minded art historian would have avoided Wyeth. But in recent years, a number of gifted art historians have returned to Wyeth to reevaluate his legacy: Adam Weinberg, Timothy Standring, David Cateforis, Ann Klausen Knutsen, Alex Nemerov and Randall Griffey, among others.</p>
<p>The reasons for the uptick in interest are surely varied. But a central factor seems to be that Wyeth’s work is thoroughly in tune with what is being produced by adventurous young artists today. They’ve largely rejected abstraction as a vehicle, finding it unsuitable for the topics they want to address: body, gender, racial discrimination, politics, cruelty, mortality – the very issues which Wyeth addressed in his work. </p>
<p>While much contemporary art is in new media, such as video, rather than painting, the underlying message of Wyeth’s art remains very relevant. Art historians continue to argue about how to pigeonhole Wyeth within a terminology of visual styles. Was he a realist, a magic realist or a neo-realist? </p>
<p>My own view is that these labels aren’t useful. I believe he fits into a larger tradition of modernist creativity that goes beyond the medium of painting, one that’s also found in novels and movies – a tradition of attending to the overlooked. His influence – like that of his contemporary, <a href="http://www.edwardhopper.net/#">Edward Hopper</a> – has been most important and profound not in the realm of painting, but in poetry, literature and filmmaking. </p>
<p>He had no place in a world of art devoted merely to shapes and forms, and to nothing deeper. For this, his reputation suffered. Fortunately, he has again emerged as an original and challenging figure to a new generation of artists, critics and historians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79804/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Henry Adams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
His rise was just as swift as his fall. To mark the painter’s 100th birthday, an art historian explores the forces – cultural, political and personal – that created a polarizing legacy.
Henry Adams, Ruth Coulter Heede Professor of Art History, Case Western Reserve University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.