JOLLY DAYS

Art Collecting Gone Awry

“It is a tale of greed, ego, status-seeking, and unbridled enthusiasm”, is the way Seinfeld's Kramer might describe this tale of art world woe.

The art dealer in question is represented as having a sympathetic viewpoint — he disliked the big new money going to artists whose work he considered more fashion than substance. He started a business to sell Old Masters — affirming value you could say, and perhaps a savvy business move into a declining market. So far so good. But the well-done, detailed article suggests that although he derided trendy cluelessness in the art world, the dealer was on some level attracted to the publicity and money garnered by those dealers who served the fashionistas. The story then devolves into what could provide a novelistic opportunity — it is so far off the charts as to the personalities and bucks involved. This story begs to be a cable movie. (Even tennis guy John McEnroe plays a role in this tale.) The art dealer attempted to impress, showing that he was doing fabulously, to the very collectors whose decisions he derided.

If the allegations are true, the collapse of Salander-O’Reilly would be among the most massive art frauds in history. All told, more than $100 million in art, bank loans, and client investments appears to have vanished into thin air. The scandal has shaken the art world, raising troubling questions about the darker side of this secretive, totally unregulated market into which investors have poured billions of dollars in the past decade.

There are many reasons people collect art beyond love of art; many art collectors want to associate themselves with what confirms their idea of success. Many find collecting a thrill — like hunting. If collectors aren't honorably focused on the art, rather than social status and rich-folk group approval — and let us not forget greed — they can easily find themselves mired in the very horror they seek to avoid, that of high-school un-coolness; the very opposite of social standing.

There is, although seldom mentioned in discussions about art as ego enhancement (a common subtext in much writing about art — “I get it and you don't”), a genuine potential for inner growth that can be derived from an association with, and love of art.