Chef d'oeuvre
My intention, in art, is to serve an emotionally nutritional plate of aesthetics:
"What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art."
Augustus Saint Gaudens was an American artist of high standard who lived and worked before van Gogh made madness an essential ingredient in art. Given Gaudens' premise, it could be said of van Gogh that his madness was just the right dash of "garlic" in art.
A friend is suffering from gout. It is my first exposure to the condition in anyone. Knowing my friend, and having read the gloss on the subject of gout, it is impossible not to conclude that it is a condition affecting the nouveau riche. That includes my friend. While I wish I could boast of knowing a fabulously wealthy person, and I recognize nouveau riche is a derogatory term, at the same time I don't feel I must suppress opinion on a matter that can affect anyone. Gout can and does afflict people of every social stratum.
What I know about gout is too complex to be summarized other than by metaphor. My friend suffering from gout relates an anecdote about a business trip to China, where he was regaled with dinner of live lobster. "The lobster's antennas were still moving," my friend told me, "while the tail had been broiled and is ready to eat." This, but one (extreme) example, of what a businessman making deals over "power lunch" must endure.
My rich businessman friend is quite the bon vivant. He once said he always wanted to be an overnight success. He earned it. His excesses are, to him, a mark of achievement. I am not so close to him as to be susceptible to his lifestyle choices. That is where we differ. I have my own challenges, but gout is not one of them. I only found out about his gout when I noticed him limping. He said it was due to the pain, and that it came, and went.
I must make these disclosures in the form of an apology. I wouldn't want to offend anyone's feelings (should he read this), but I cannot help characterizing the root cause of the whole problem as the sin of gluttony. Although it may be found in isolation, a sin, like an ionic bond in chemistry, is often coupled with crime.
The French have a phrase, Le mauvais goût mène au crime, which means, "bad taste leads to crime," and is attributed to the writer who wrote under the name Stendhal. Stendhal, who wrote fiction, was a keen observer of human nature. He was a predecessor of the 20th Century psychoanalyst, probing the motives of his fictional characters. Did Stendhal correctly identify gout, in his words "le mauvais goût," as a symptom of the psychopathology of crime?
The behavioral school of human psychology postulates three degrees of motivation, or motive: hunger, desire, and taste. Volumes have been published on the first two motives. It is the third, that of taste, which has yet to be defined. There is a socio-economic order which fits this taxonomy. The root cause of a deviation from the mean can be sought in the social class corresponding to the degree of objective refinement. The category of taste, it follows, would include such objects as fine vintages, haute cuisine, and most importantly for our purposes, taste in art.
The problem of white collar crime in itself is subject to degrees, from simple embezzling, through sharing of privileged financial information, to the collecting of stolen cultural property. The last class of illicit trade has far-reaching consequences going beyond personal taste. It includes blatant crimes against humanity such as the looting of private property by the Nazis, tribal claims against public museums of natural history for the display of human remains and accompanying burial deposits, and destruction of archaeological sites by treasure hunters.
It is the last degree of cultural violation which concerns this blog, not outrage over perceived injustice, but for the human motives leading to misdeeds of this kind as they are exposed. Recent report is of a settlement, as atonement by the noted Michael Steinhardt, for conviction of possession of looted cultural objects. The main guideline of the deal with the Manhattan District Attorney, is a permanent ban on Steinhardt's participation in the commerce in antiquities, going forward. The recovered objects will be returned to the country of origin.
It is enlightened criminology. When the culprit is also a victim -of fraud, for example, as in the case of Michael Steinhardt, it is difficult to place blame. He has a history of ill-advised purchases of antiquities of dubious provenance. He now gives his word as assurance he will never repeat his indiscretions, while the global trade in looted antiquities remains unaffected by the deal. Assuredly, he will be approached again by purveyors of stolen antiquities. The bad guys have your number, Mr. Steinhardt. Beware.
There is a hint, in recent news reports about the settlement, of cooperation by Michael Steinhardt in settling the score with the real bad guys -the tomb robbers. He reserves the right to recover damages. It is my understanding that loss due to fraud is a tax deduction. I don't believe a police report is even necessary -unlike insurance claim, which is probably what Michael Steinhardt's legal team had in mind. If he has a nerve for it he might get satisfaction by turning the table on the looters.
Make no mistake, Mr. Steinhardt, you have been cheated. You were cheated out of your money and reputation by a confidence man -or men (only you know by whom). Still, I give him the benefit of the doubt. He loves art, with a focus of interest on pagan antiquities. It is a weakness. The profit motive on his part can be dismissed. Even if he intended to trade merchandise bought at distress prices, later, at auction, the rate of interest will be disappointing. The price has been paid. Even without the suspect origins of the objects, after all the required paperwork, title of ownership, provenance (if any), expert appraisal, counter-party bidders, shareholders, insurers, etc., the trade in antiquities is nothing like futures, Steinhardt's true market of expertise.
What would any person with aesthetic sensitivity not give to own one of the treasures displayed to perfection viewed by the millions in any one of the major art museums of the world? Nonetheless, they didn't find their way there by chance. They were not discovered in a pawn shop. The objects displayed in museums have a history. Some of them have the status of popular legend, the common property of mankind. They can possess the aura of myth.
These objects displayed for the first time in a photo of the recovered booty taken at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office look like a flea market. Never mind they are all lacking title of ownership. How do I know they are not fake? While “hot” merchandise may yet hold value, a fake is worth almost nothing. Fair warning to whomever pays the assessed value of the hoard at $14 million. Get it appraised before you buy.
The aesthetic judgment of the lot is more uncertain. The Pithos, or decorated clay pot, is a fair instance of a second-rate example of its class. The geometry (profile) of the vase is, if you will excuse the expression, bulimic. The potter was too ambitious. The girth-to-height ratio exceeds what is beautiful in a Greek vase. It was originally likely to have been a special order. In other words, the selection was a "pot boiler," a made-to-order commission. It looks it. It looks like nothing so much as a pig. The pink glaze doesn't help this unfortunate circumstance.
When one takes possession of illegal artifacts one buys “a pig in a poke.” The Pithos may well be a black market relic because it is second-rate. That's a pity. Every shard of the past is a piece of the puzzle. The same might be said about anything, of course, but the stakes are so much higher where the cultural heritage of the world is at stake. The objective valuation of art is a hierarchy predicated upon discovery, disclosure, investigation, history, contemplation, analysis, advice & consent. Caveat emptor.
One-of-a-kind works of art can be viewed at: https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/1840403