$300 million for a painting

Take a moment to peruse a photographical listing of the world’s most expensive paintings.

After seeing a similar list, my friend said “Not quite sure what to make of these paintings. Perhaps you can make more sense of them”. Now nothing gets me more riled up than the vapid lifestyles of the super rich, so here is my reaction.

First of all, a brief review of these paintings. The values of the paintings start at a mere $40 million and rise to an astronomical $300 million for one painting. Many are done by European masters such as Van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet and Picasso. There are some impressive works of art on the list, but there is also some pure rubbish. Three of them consist of only horizontal strips of colour on the canvass. They are “White Centre” at $72 million, “No.1” with Orange, Red and Yellow Strips at $75 million and “Orange, Red, Yellow” at $87 million. There is also a direct painting of an American flag which goes for $110 million.

Who is buying these paintings at these prices? One may think that they are mainly art galleries, but this is not so. The overwhelming majority of the buyers are private individuals.

Now what are we supposed to make of all of this? Let us try and get into the mind of the super rich. Let us try and understand what would motivate anyone to pay such prices for a painting. If the old saying “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also” (Jesus) is at all relevant here, then we may have a clue. Try, as hard as it is, to put yourself in the shoes of these purchasers. They obviously have lots of surplus cash. Of all the things that they could do with it, they have decided to purchase these paintings. Why? They are used to sinking their money into investments and I suppose they consider these paintings to be good investments. To an outsider this does not seem like a concrete and productive way to “invest” one’s money, but to those living in their bubbles of affluence it all seems to make sense.

Think of all the investments that one could make with such fortunes. The world is so torn with war, disease, poverty and environmental degradation. An intelligent use of money, in a well planned, sustainable way could do so much to improve the planet and those who inhabit it. However, in spite of all of this, the super rich can think of nothing better to do with their wealth than to squander it on themselves. And the hurting problems of the world? They seem to have effectively cancelled this out of their thinking. This is a lack of empathy and community concern on a massive level.

In1997, the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa, purchased a “painting” which consisted of 3 strips of colour on acrylic; a red vertical strip in the middle with two blue vertical strips down each side. The size was 5.4 m x 2.4m. The price for this masterpiece? A mere $1.8 million, now reputed to be worth $40 million. A great scandal occurred when it was discovered that it was originally hung upside down. Since it had only three vertical strips of colour, who could tell the difference?

The purchase of this inane piece of art raised a firestorm of protest here in Ottawa. I went to see it. I could not believe it! I wouldn’t even purchase this to cover an unsightly wall. There was a book at the museum entrance where visitors were asked to register their comments. I remember furiously writing a page or two. Here are some of my comments:

- The rich elites and the art critics have gone mad. Anyone who has gazed at the profound and creative art in European museums, has to stand appalled at this.

- This supposed modern art will not stand the test of time. People will soon tire of gazing at such monotony. Eventually it will be stored in a cupboard and be forgotten.

It is now reported that the work remains in the possession of the National Gallery of Canada. Nobody has seen it for years, and nobody cares.

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Mere rants (such as the above) are not enough. When all the hot air is over, there is always something that we can do.

- Work on our own financial inequality. Give away our excess wealth (if we have it, and many of us do). Give it to creative, wholesome and sustainable projects.

- Refuse to support and give money or investments to organisations with overly paid CEOs.

- Speak out loudly and clearly against the superrich when they waste the planet’s precious resources on themselves.