The Business of Art ( Mona Lisa Curse)- Robert Hughes

[AreYouOffended]

Mugrabi does not see art, he sees the price. When people see the price he paid for it, they say oh wow thats alot of money...it must be important art. When subsequent collectors see that price they say oh shit I gotta get me some of that, eventually pay more for it and what do you know this absurd pandemic begins all over again. Fucking collectors.

[CollinsCab]

Al Cap on modern " Done by the untalented, sold by the unscrupulous, to the totally befuddled."

[NixonisLord]

"The only genius I know with the IQ of a moron."-Gore Vidal on Andy Warhol

[xwaystranger]

To be a collected and museum Artist, one has to have a factory manufacturing work the Artist never touches : Marakami, Ellison, Tara Donovan.

[Terrra91]

You know I suddenly realise how fucked up things are. People like Saatchi are spending MILLIONS on contemporary artwork (which more often than not are utter wank) when they could be making the last few months of terminally ill children slightly more bearable. Its quite disgusting when you think about it. What sort of message does that give the needy? Is it too much to ask for a required tax of 5% of the rich to channel into charity?

[Retardretroguy]

Only I'd add to what he said about Warhol, is that his whole popularity was based on him being a sideshow freak.

BTW The difference between pseudo intellectual and intellectual is that the former thinks that an intellectually disabled guy is a genius.

[keflar5]

this guy is a fucking legend he nailed the guy beautifully.......going to watch more on him now

[ironicqueery]

rofl - "isn't it a miracle what so much money and so little talent can produce"

[oldpiq]

Pretentious old man didn't get the better part of Andy Warhol. Warhol was often acting superficially because it was his external persona. He used it as a deflector shield against pompous asses.

[CatZula]

@oldpiq He used it as a deflector shield because he was exceedingly insecure and realized his art was mostly a sham. He constantly worried he would be discovered and be left without any money...which is why he was such a terrbile person to work for...

[KEPHALLE]

@oldpiq the shield you're talking about is more of a shell containing nothing but a smoky fraud and greed. Warhol was a cultural speck of dirt, a mass producing brand for the mass consuming dumbasses like Mughrabi and alike. i've been working as a gallery/auction house assistant, and i've seen some very high quality art pieces collect dust cause produced by not-so-valuable artist while crap being so pompously promoted for its very profitable rate within few years. fuck art market!

[actuallyadam]

I agree with Hughes in some ways about what the 'business of art' has become with these private collectors, but it seems to me as though he really doesn't understand or recognize the scope and intent of Warhols work.

"The work seems to be dry and repetitious"... That was the point, though, and there lies the difference between Warhol and someone like Hirst or Koons.

Let me also say that Mugrabi is the EXACT type of person Warhol indirectly tried to expose with his work..

[CatZula]

@actuallyadam Just because Warhol set out to mass produce work to maximize profit doesn't make his work significantly more interesting than either Koons or Hirst. Just like those two, Warhol appropriated liberally...from Duchamp, Rauschenberg, Ruscha...although he was more apt to borrow ideas than images (but that was mostly because he got sued early on). He had very little to say himself and was always ready to sacrifice artistic exploration for economic gain.

[dali366]

I believe both Hughes and Brian Sewell are last of the intellectual and witty art critique brigade who remind us all that contempoary art is intirely based on a figment of one's own silly imagination- along with a hoard of very hard cash to follow it up. It is all about the art of making big money, rather than the art making big money.

[flyonthewindscreen]

What a douchebag this Hughes meatsack is. A: They put so much money into 'art like this' because that is what they LIKE.

What a self aggrandizing buffoon. Ellsworth Toohey come to life. He attempts to build himself up by tearing others down. What a sad doddering old man.

[CatZula]

@flyonthewindscreen No, they're trying to create and control a market. Hughes needn't build himself up at all...he's been one of the preeminent art critics of the last 30 years. Who the hell are you? You seem to me the one trying to tear down others to...build yourself up? I don't know. Maybe Mugrabi is paying your bills...

[samiemma]

Oh, I thought this was about Lady Gaga.

[miguel1nh0]

@samiemma

It was about Lady Gaga.

[intheglen]

Robert Hughes shows off for the camera by confronting Collector Whats-his-name. Easy pickin's. There are plenty of other collectors and art critics who would've given him a real debate.

[CatZula]

@intheglen the point is Mugrabi is a major, major collector.  Nobody flushing that sort of money into art should be so idiotic...

[smurfieboo]

"he's a tough cookie"

no, he just sees through your pseudo bullshit.

[BigEdDunkel]

Have another bourbon, Bob.

[dreamzcatchers]

having nothing to say is saying a lot

[mwchinbach]

Hughes is brilliant! Really sticking it to the fat bastards who squander money that they`ve (inevitably) robbed off real people on shite that passes for art. Go,Bob,go!!

[MrMarcusirish]

'He's a tough Cookie', no, you delusional Moron!', he has just exposed you and your pathetic, derisory rationale on Warhol, Prince et al. Priceless, even the quip of what buys you immortality, RH face, brilliant, Mugrabe and his ilk are the reason why nobody except the fantastical mind of Mugabe takes Warhol,Hirst,Prince,Koons seriously, only the suits with more money than sense or taste buy in to the charade

[CatZula]

Kudos to Robert Hughes for being brutally frank--this is the reality of the contemporary art market.

[nutherefurlong]

I think it's remarkable that the opposite has happened at all, that artists have been able to express themselves fully without funding having a large impact. That the current environment often brings out people who are good at gaining funds and not much else just speaks to what art has often been about, unfortunately. Not sure if there is a solution, except to aggressively pursue genuine creative expression that moves the conversation forward, rather than people who are into costly stunts.

[seductiveproductions]

That was wonderful!

[neondracula]

Does anybody know where to find the rest of this? I know that it originally ran on bbc sometime this year, and that you could view it on their website, but they took it down before I could catch it.

[ArtInsightTV]

I don't know where to find it ... but when I do find it --- I'll link to it on the Art Insight TV website. -- This is very important -- eye opening stuff. The Art world needs to be recaptured so Art can be appropriately appreciated.

[celestrialtone]

hmm no you can't as I tried to get a copy from chanel 4, as I needed it for my disseration, but my uni has a copy somehow. if your a student you could get an inter-libary request from nottingham trent x

[Pericleshands]

Hughes get's this ignorant stooge to say such ridiculous things like "I think he (Warhol) has opened every door for every artist today" or the pathetic fumbling over trying to pull deep meaning out of a large canvas painted with a joke sentence. It was like listening to Obama when his telepromter breaks.

[ArtInsightTV]

funny. Agreed.

[nutherefurlong]

Obama has improvised speeches better than others so I'm not sure why you bring that into it. This video pretty plainly shows how vapid collector culture can get. Reminds me more of the Masque of the Red Death, with people all huddled in a castle thinking they've got a monopoly on survival, only here it's a monopoly on human expression, as if you could throw a bunch of money at it and pretend you're doing anything more than acquiring conversation pieces.

[collaburatorx]

You go Hughes, bravo, this rich art collecting Mofo has absolutely no idea why he's paying so much for this shite. immortality? very funny!

[AgnesShadbolt]

Interesting, thanks for posting.