For the rich.
The deceased fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent's art collection sold at auction for USD$249 million. Most pieces were sold at the highest estimate--some for twice what Christie's expected.
Hmmm...something tells me the private homes of all those executives whose companies are getting bailouts were doing some shopping yesterday! I bet all the Manhattan 'people who tell rich people where to hang overpriced paintings they buy' are licking their lips after this one!
My favorite part of the article is that Saint Laurent's boyfriend, Pierre Berge, couldn't part with a Picasso for only USD$26 million, so he kept it. I know most of the money is going to a charitable organization founded by Saint Laurent--minus the hefty commissions his boyfriend gets for each work sold--but come on! What a greedy asshole!
As if getting USD$32 million would have been that much of a difference? As if the people with AIDS and whomever else this charity helps would give a shit if they got USD$220 million, instead of USD$226 million?
"Oh, shit. I can't believe you sold that Picasso for such a low-ball price, Pierre--how are all of us going to afford diamond-encrusted home and away jerseys for our AIDS Foundation equestrian team?"I mean, how much did he buy the painting for? $4 million in 1989?
FUCK YOU, Pierre Berge.
And fuck you, too, people who pay $40 million for a painting of some ugly flowers in an ugly vase sitting on an ugly rug!
I don't even care WHAT the current economic climate is--it's irrelevant. Have any of you no shame?
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2 comments:
I'd just like to say that, aside from the legitimate charity and generosity of undoubtedly (at least) some of the wealthy patrons, there's an argument to made for the perpetuation of this centuries-old practice of hyper-exaggerating the value of cultural artifacts and historical artwork. I think it is an inevitable byproduct of a capitalist, paternal society (as you entertainingly infer) that has proven invaluable at times to the preservation of history itself. And to presume that anyone wealthy enough to participate in such a blatant and torrid display of wastefulness is a shameless asshole is to undermine your previous premise of all men being nothing more than grown boys still pursuing bigger, more expensive toys; they are playing the same game we are, just with a lot more zeroes before the decimal. Seems to me Pierre Berge is actually quite savvy, unloading a bunch of crappy paintings for untold millions that mostly go towards honoring his late partner's memory and helping the needy in some hopefully more specific way than I'm aware, while still pulling in some dough for himself. Can't say I would handle things differently in his position.
Jambone lives!!!!!
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