The price fixing scheme between Christie’s and Sotheby’s of a couple of years ago has flaked off the public’s memory like cheap old paint.

In a previous post, Going Once, I wrote about a New York Times article that reported on a tighter market among the rich players. As it turns out, not all that tight after all, as Christie’s New York recent sale of Impressionist and modern art did turn a profit.

Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn payed $17,367,500 (est. $15,000,000-$20,000,000) for a rare ca. 1895 self-portrait at age 55 by Paul Cézanne. Wynn also bought Renoir’s Among the Roses (1882) for $23.5 million. The large canvas (39 3/8 x 31 7/8 in.) captures Madame Clapisson in the garden of the couple’s mansion in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Among the Roses was rejected by Monsieur Clapisson who insisted Renoir repaint his wife’s portrait in a more formal manner, which the painter did.

The art marketers are keen on convincing artists that the art public demands to see a lengthy scroll of exhibits, solo shows, awards, and collectors. The art marketers are also keen on convincing the art buying public that this is what “they” want of the artist as well.

The premise is that others who are presumably more astute than you have already “validated” the artist in question. Makes sense? Right?

MORE...

"The artist’s life cannot be otherwise than full of conflicts, for two forces are at war within him—on the one hand, the common longing for happiness, satisfaction and security in life, and on the other a ruthless passion for creation which may go so far as to override every personal desire.

“There are hardly any exceptions to the rule that a person must pay dearly for the divine gift of creative fire.”

—CG. Jung

For more about creation read Divine Fire: In Search of the Creator inside the main site gallery.

Excerpt from: But is It Art?: The Value of Art and the Temptation of Theory
Book by B. R. Tilghman; B. Blackwell, 1984.

For more on But is It Art, visit Questia —the online library for research.

A persistent feature of the last hundred and more years of art history has been the seasonal recurrence of what Ian Dunlop has labeled The Shock of the New.

On any number of occasions during this period the artworld has been shocked by the appearance of avant garde movements that have seemed to challenge artistic traditions and prevailing conceptions of art. One thinks immediately of the impact made by the first impressionist showings, the fauves, the post-impressionist, the surrealists, and so on. Professional critics and casual gallerygoers alike have been disturbed and puzzled by these new developments that they did not know what to make of.

MORE...

"Fine art” is yet another unfortunate label of confusion. After all, what is so fine about it?

The answer lies in the art’s creation. Fine art comes into the world without a motive. It has no agenda except to be born. A piece of fine art adds to nature; this art doesn’t copy or rearrange existential matter. This is not a comparison; it is a distinction.

There is art and then there is advertising; the former is from the soul and the latter an invention. The two can coexist beautifully. Wouldn’t you want to know the difference? If yes, you must find out the distinction for your self and the right direction is labeled “feeling.”