-Banks

I think the Miro positively sucks. However, my lovely wife insists that I bid on it at auction…..I tend to indulge my wife’s wishes. At least it won’t be hanging anywhere in our house, as I wouldn’t allow it. A four year old can do much better art than what Miro did in that piece.

JS: Picasso had a studio in then 50’s-60’s that employed a ton of apprentices and cranked out a boatload of crap. His most valuable period was done prewar, the later stuff fetches a far lower price. However, you can still find drawings done by his own hand from the 30’s for a pretty reasonable price.

If I were starting an art collection today, I’d probably start with wood-cuts from Albrecht Durer. They’re absolutely beautiful and one can find good specimens for less than $5,000.

Jeff

He bought a small Picasso. Three weeks or so later, Picasso died. They took the painting out of its frame to examine it. There was an unfinished self-portrait on the back by … Picasso. Now, they had two paintings, one completely unknown prior to the discovery.

Undertaking pays well, but not that well.

I can supply you with an endless supply of paintings from my nearly 4 year old…for free.

I would love to love the Miro…but I think he was taking the mick with that painting.

Elaine

I suspect that convincing people to give surrealists a second chance will be easier than some of the abstract artists I enjoy even more….

#1 – do you think Eliot read Johnson?

#2 – Nobody was talking about hating art. We were talking about Miro….

Ahem. On Miro, this would suppose that I don’t understand him. But what if I understand all too well?

Hmmm….

“Example is always more efficacious than precept. A soldier is formed in war, and a painter must copy pictures. In this, contemplative life has the advantage: great actions are seldom seen, but the labors of art are always at hand for those who desire to know what art has been able to perform…. Men advanced far in knowledge do not love to repeat the elements of their art.” Dr. Samuel Johnson, RASSELAS

Eliot had to have gotten it somewhere, right…?

And lest we forget the consequences of hating art – any art:

“Nothing has more retarded the advancement of learning than the disposition of vulgar minds to ridicule and vilify what they cannot comprehend.” Johnson, THE RAMBLER

So, Brian, we all await your revelations on Dali, Miro, et. al., with the deepest interest….

Oh well.

Miro did at least 50,000 pieces…almost as much as all the fake Dali shit(and I mean shit) out there. That’s why it’s so cheap. Most of those signed lithographs aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on anyways. We own a few etchings which I’ve posted on my blog, but they’re exceptions.

I don’t find you to be uninformed at all. From your choices of art in this post, I speculate that you have a rather discerning eye for decent art.

Speaking of art, there’s nothing more civilized in the world than sitting in one’s living room full of decent art, Vivaldi playing in the background , drinking a fine claret. That’s high living.

Dr. Slammy…..you gotta get some original art.

Jeff

Jeff

I think my son is turning into a rebel.

I suppose that makes me uninformed….

I would add that we could list our sorry state of music both in the secular and sacred spheres. I fight the “tradition vs. contemporary” war every day. I would suggest that any one who does battle between these camps read the above. Well done S.

Here’s a link to a work that my lovely wife is making me bid on for my son. He wants this real bad. Frankly, I find Miro to be a waste of money, but I want to keep Denise happy so I will comply. One thing I learned early…”Ain’t momma happy, ain’t nobody happy.”

http://masteroftheuniverse.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/budding-collector/

If you are ever serious about collecting drawings, I can point you in the right direction.

Jeff

I imagine it would cost a little more, though.

Buying some art from an auction like the one I linked would be a good start for any budding collector. The prices are really soft.

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lfsearch_coa/SearchResults.aspx?intSaleID=21839

Jeff

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

As the art market softens, drawings from the likes of Degas are becoming affordable again. The impressionist auction last month at Sotheby’s last month showed how soft the market has become…..despite the spin Sotheby’s put on it.

Jeff

Whereas if we approach a poet without this prejudice we shall often find that not only the best, but the most individual parts of his work may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously.

Tradition is a matter of much wider significance. It cannot be inherited, and if you want it you must obtain it by great labour.

Thanks, Dr. S. Had never read those words by Eliot before. The most radical artists — Willem de Kooning and John Coltrane come to mind — are almost always well-schooled.