John Hesselberth on wed 9 apr 08
Hi Everyone,
After our recent thread on art critics, I was particularly fascinated
by a Forbes article in the April 7 issue titled "Pump and Dump". You
can read it at
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0407/088.html
Apparently in China you can buy a positive review of your work by a
"critic" -- you pay by the word. Then you bid up your own work and
buy it at auction to establish that it has value. After that you hope
other suckers follow. I wonder how much of that happens in other
parts of the world. Of course, penny stocks have been sold that way
(illegally) for a lot of years in this country and probably elsewhere
also. But does it happen in the art world? I wonder.
Regards,
John
John Hesselberth
http://www.masteringglazes.com
http://www.frogpondpottery.com
Dannon Rhudy on wed 9 apr 08
John Said:....
> Apparently in China you can buy a positive review of your work by a
> "critic" -- you pay by the word. Then you bid up your own work and
> buy it at auction......
Yes, John, it happens in the art world. Many a
gallery owner has hyped the value of an unknown
"artist", and bought their work, and hyped it more,
and sold their work, often for a profit. Sometimes
(ah, shame, shame) the work is bid up at auction
by - let us say someone. The unknown
artist may not pay by the word, but they pay one
way or another.
Another one of the things that artists can do, and
often DO do, is to send a piece of their (highly
priced) work as a gift to the first lady at the White House. The gift is
often
accepted, and a "thank you" sent. Then, onto the resume:
"Joe Jones has work in the collection of President and
First Lady Schmatz" or "in the White House Collection".
Certain well-known auction houses have quite a reputation
in that regard, too. Though they usually choose an artist
who is dead, for hyping and bidding up. Saves complaints, eh?
In short, I am quite sure that though the details may vary,
one group of people is quite as capable as another of
finding ways to "bid up". Artists are people.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
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