Larry Salander was a man with a vision of righteousness: he believed that it was a travesty that Old Master paintings were going begging at auction, while contemporary pieces by artists like Koons were selling for millions. He saw it as a symptom of a larger cultural malaise; as an established NYC dealer, he set out to correct what he perceived as this terrible wrong.
Now he's tens of millions in debt, and being sued by those he once called friends. But for those of us not feeding at the gilded troughs of the uppermost echelons in the art world, his fall from grace is an instructive look at how hype and glamour can inflate an unregulated market; how an empires is built and then crumbles.
For the story, cut and paste the links:
New York Magazine: http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=An+Old+Master+in+Ruins&expire=&urlID=27353033&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnymag.com%2Fnews%2Ffeatures%2F45324%2F&partnerID=73272
Portfolio: http://www.portfolio.com/culture-lifestyle/culture-inc/arts/2008/03/17/Art-Dealer-Larry-Salander-Trials
* image= Paul on the road to Damascus, Carravaggio
3 comments:
How interesting. I've always wanted a great dealer/curator/collector to write sort of a guide to the game. A "How to Succeed in the Art World Without Really [insert verb]" of sorts. I guess this article counts more as a "How Not to Succeed" guide, but I'll take what I can get. Good find.
wow..cool find. Good article. Theres so many pitfalls in the "art world". Its hard to figure out what a sure thing is.
I think that if you are collecting what you love, then that is the surest bet...until you're balling anyway. And even then its a gamble.
Art as an investment is kind of the antithesis of what one might consider the trueness of art...but it certainly is as old as the art game itself. I admit, that there are pieces in my home that I greedily hope will appreciate in value. but they are also pieces that I love and look at everyday.
Glad you guys like the article. And thanks for reading.
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