Wednesday, May 26, 2010

modern art collection sold for mill$

Flag (1960-66) Johns
michael crichton's pop art collection has gone to auction & it is amazing. for those of us who may never own priceless works of art, it's a chance to absorb artists that changed the world. regardless of your like or distaste of crichton's career, he did amass one of the more stunning collections of modern art.
jasper johns', flag (1960-66), is probably the most priceless of the works. however, roy lichtenstein's, girl (1968), david hockney's, the field entrance, january 2006, picasso's, femme et fillettes (1961) & a pair of rauschenberg pieces, studio painting (1960-61) & trapeze (1964), among numerous others, make this collection worthy of jealousy.
the 31 pieces initially auctioned sold for $93.3 million. flag fetched a record $26.8 million. the previous high for a johns work of art was $17.4 million (figure 4). another allotment was auctioned (117 pieces) under the title, post war & contemporary art.
with the declining health of our ecosystems, the constant devastation of war, oil spills, earthquakes, corrupt big business & phony politics, one might ask, "is art really worth that?" there are countless ways in which that money could have been spent - on humanitarian efforts or environmental concerns. regardless of the astronomical prices, everyone has the right to spend their money as they see fit. it is a bi-product of freedom, albeit financial freedom. comparatively, i'd rather see inspiration & creativity being sold & owned for millions, versus the trillions of dollars being spent & stolen by the powers that be on corruption, pollution, lies & death tolls. art will always serve the public, as a reminder of the past, the pursuit of what is contemporary & what may happen in the future. no matter who owns art, creativity & inspiration are owned by all. those aspects of life & culture that stimulate others without harming the rest of us are worth far more than any auction by christie's.
no one except the artist truly owns the art. we as viewers perpetuate the dialogue & interpret its meanings individually & sometimes collectively. it's similar to music needing listeners to complete the creative circle. art needs to be absorbed. whether or not we see it as the artist did is not important, nor is the ownership. it's the interaction, the stirring of the soul & the ability to inspire that is of most importance.
Trapeze (1964) Rauschenberg
eightychoices.



1 comment:

  1. " no matter who owns art, creativity & inspiration are owned by all"

    Well said!

    "is art really worth that?"

    I wonder if the housing markets are any sign of inflated prices being the norm - The question some might ask is:

    "Is my dollar really that worthless?"

    Goodness gracious, it just might be.

    But, as you said, Art needs to stir the soul and inspire to hold REAL value, at least for me..

    Nice post!

    ReplyDelete