Baskets of Rotten Fruit?

Ed Winkleman has a good post summarizing a recent debate on ethical standards in the art market vs. ethical standards in the stock market (if the two can be rightly compared). In it he mentions a comment made by the artist Chuck Close that happens to point to an issue touched upon in the Dave Hickey quote in my Bling Bling post from yesterday, which I hope to circle back around to and write more about when I get a chance, regarding the cultural and intellectual value of art.

Close, speaking next, attempted to redirect the debate by arguing that the value of art is not determined by money at all (a point that earned him a ripple of applause) and that the ethics of its marketing were therefore somewhat moot. Even if its financial value can be manipulated, he argued, its long-term significance comes from artists rather than buyers and sellers. {Read more…}