Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Thrift Store Pollock

Not a candidate for "real" art


$5 garage sale Pollock thought to bring $5 million


You can watch the TV interview here, or read the story here.

Once again, elitism trumps facts. Art elites are probably the worst kind. A truck-driver woman bought a painting from a thrift store (as a joke - she said they were to play darts on it) and found out later that it was probably a Pollock.

A finger print at the back of the painting was identified as that of Jackson Pollock and the painting deemed to be highly likely an original. It could be worth up to $5 million.

Of course, all the "experts" deny this. When asked why, their only response is that it doesn't "feel" like a Pollock. How could a truck driver's buy at a thrift store - authenticated by something as inconsequential as a ... finger print! - be taken seriously?

This has always been my experience. "Artists" expect work to be done (and sold and bought) by what look like artists or Friends of Artists. They never really look at a piece of work with fresh eyes, and God forbid that it challenges whatever it is they're doing at the moment.

It really is "who you know" in the art world. The thickest click there ever is.

Now, the real point of the story for me is, why would I want to buy a Pollock? Sell one? Of course! But buy?