A review by freshkatsu
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
3.0
Here's the million dollar question:
Without googling the respective http://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/7907803-an-object-of-beautyartist of the below artworks, what do you think is the similarity between them?
First off, paintings!
Now sculptures.
Ok I'm tired, I originally planned to do an installation, mixed media art comparison as well. Like I said, TIRED.
Ready?
For the paintings, the first one is Renoir's Le Moulin de la Galette, and the second one de Kooning's Woman 3. Both are some of the most expensive works on this planet, around 140 millions each.
Sculptures: First one is Rodin's Le Penseur (more commonly known as the thinker) and the second one Jeff Koons' Woman in Tub. During the global financial crisis post 9/11, the Rodin was estimated at 1.5 million while the Koons sold for 1.7.
You may say, 'both the painting and sculpture pairs are around the same price, so what? I would still rather buy the Playboy mansion with that money and decorate it with purple dinosaur wallpaper. Plus I think Koons would look much better on my floor than Rodin.'
If those were your thoughts, then congratulation! You're probably above all these art world commerce, and thus can just skip the book and go watch TV!
If you want to know more about why, and how do old masters and contemporary art sell so well even though it's likely nobody understands Koons (unless you're an art school graduate, in which it's very unlikely you'll be able to afford it anyway), then An Object of Beauty is probably a good start.
The main problem I have with it is also its subject matter (art world commerce, namely big names auction brands such as Sotheby and Christie). Lacey is an up and coming art dealer in New York, and she is determined to ride with the great art bubble that started in the yuppie era of the early 90s. Since the book spans over a period of 20 years, it's not hard to guess when, and what caused the bubble to break, along with the 'shocking' sales during the time. It kind of frustrates me that I can't show off my awesome knowledge of ridiculous art sales here because of spoiler, but you get the idea.
It must be quite different to read the book as a non-art world participant, because most of the time I already knew the outcome of the 'twists'. The commerce-oriented take on NY's art scene is also somewhat not as 'shocking' for those familiar with the system. On top of that, the writing also parodies the materialistic and passionless 'I don't make art I make money' attitude. Even the sex scenes feel like reading a shopping list.
Anyway, I'm probably just giving it 2 stars because I'm all pretentious and think contemporary shit art for shit art's sake still has value other than a price tag. Who knows?
Without googling the respective http://www.goodreads.com/review/edit/7907803-an-object-of-beautyartist of the below artworks, what do you think is the similarity between them?
First off, paintings!
Now sculptures.
Ok I'm tired, I originally planned to do an installation, mixed media art comparison as well. Like I said, TIRED.
Ready?
For the paintings, the first one is Renoir's Le Moulin de la Galette, and the second one de Kooning's Woman 3. Both are some of the most expensive works on this planet, around 140 millions each.
Sculptures: First one is Rodin's Le Penseur (more commonly known as the thinker) and the second one Jeff Koons' Woman in Tub. During the global financial crisis post 9/11, the Rodin was estimated at 1.5 million while the Koons sold for 1.7.
You may say, 'both the painting and sculpture pairs are around the same price, so what? I would still rather buy the Playboy mansion with that money and decorate it with purple dinosaur wallpaper. Plus I think Koons would look much better on my floor than Rodin.'
If those were your thoughts, then congratulation! You're probably above all these art world commerce, and thus can just skip the book and go watch TV!
If you want to know more about why, and how do old masters and contemporary art sell so well even though it's likely nobody understands Koons (unless you're an art school graduate, in which it's very unlikely you'll be able to afford it anyway), then An Object of Beauty is probably a good start.
The main problem I have with it is also its subject matter (art world commerce, namely big names auction brands such as Sotheby and Christie). Lacey is an up and coming art dealer in New York, and she is determined to ride with the great art bubble that started in the yuppie era of the early 90s. Since the book spans over a period of 20 years, it's not hard to guess when, and what caused the bubble to break, along with the 'shocking' sales during the time. It kind of frustrates me that I can't show off my awesome knowledge of ridiculous art sales here because of spoiler, but you get the idea.
It must be quite different to read the book as a non-art world participant, because most of the time I already knew the outcome of the 'twists'. The commerce-oriented take on NY's art scene is also somewhat not as 'shocking' for those familiar with the system. On top of that, the writing also parodies the materialistic and passionless 'I don't make art I make money' attitude. Even the sex scenes feel like reading a shopping list.
Anyway, I'm probably just giving it 2 stars because I'm all pretentious and think contemporary shit art for shit art's sake still has value other than a price tag. Who knows?