The Physiology of Taste
Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy
(Revised July 24, 2026)
My artistic intention has always been to serve an emotionally nutritional plate of aesthetics. As Augustus Saint-Gaudens noted, "What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art."
Saint-Gaudens, an American artist of high standard who worked before Van Gogh cemented madness as an essential ingredient of the avant-garde, might have viewed Van Gogh’s condition as merely the right dash of "garlic" to elevate the dish. But while madness can be the spice of genius, there are other flavors that spoil the pot.
The Gout and the Nouveau Riche
My first knowledge of gout came through a friend, a businessman and bon vivant, who once confessed he always dreamed of becoming an "overnight success." At the time, he had not yet reached his goal, in his own eyes; however, eventually, his obvious success surpassed his modesty, and could no longer be denied. He deserved it. He had earned it. Surpassing wealth is a badge of achievement, not of shame.
It was lifestyle I observed at a distance. I only noticed his condition when I once saw him limping. He explained the pain came and went, a flare-up of a malady that, in his case, looked like a tax he must pay for success. Knowing my friend, and knowing of the medical condition, one could not but conclude that it was gout, a condition to which all bon vivants are susceptible, and, in particular, the "nouveau riche".
While I don’t wish to touch a nerve, I feel I must not suppress an opinion on a matter that can affect anyone (gout knows no social boundaries), from motives of tact, noticing the correlation so obviously, as all of this context was observed openly, without prying, as anyone could see. My wealthy friend could be very frank about his self indulgence.
He told an anecdote from a business trip to China. A great fan of Chinese food, he told of one feature he had never experienced before, not in a lifetime of enjoying Chinese food. As he told it, "...the lobster’s antennas were still moving." That's what he said. The edible part of the lobster (the tail) was thouroughly cooked. It had been re-joined—before being served—to the still-twitching (it's that fresh) body of the lobster. This, for him, marked the extreme limit of the "power lunch" menu, and a tribute to the sin of gluttony.
"Le Mauvais Goût Mène au Crime"
The French writer Stendhal, a keen observer of human nature and an inspiration to the psychoanalysts, famously said, "Le mauvais goût mène au crime" ("Bad taste leads to crime"). Did Stendhal intuitively identify gout, "le mauvais goût," as a symptom of the psychopathology of crime? In the context of his other writings, I say he did.
Behavioral psychology posits three degrees of motivation: hunger, desire, and taste. While volumes of science exist on the first two, the third motive remains elusive. Nonetheless, a socio-economic order reinforces this taxonomy. The root cause of deviation from the mean often lies in the social class corresponding to the degree of "refinement." Taste, in this context, encompasses fine vintages, haute cuisine, and most importantly, taste in art. All, properties of the rich.
Under the category “white-collar crime,” it follows a gradient: from simple embezzlement, to insider trading, and finally, (for our purposes) to the “fencing” of stolen cultural property. It is this final degree of cultural violation that concerns us—not the outrage over injustice—but the human motives behind it.
The Michael Steinhardt Settlement
Consider the settlement involving Michael Steinhardt, the noted hedge fund manager convicted of possessing looted cultural objects (which I first discussed in 2022). Recall that the Manhattan District Attorney’s deal included a permanent ban on Steinhardt’s participation in the antiquities market and the return of recovered objects to their countries of origin.
This is enlightened criminology. When the culprit is also a victim—of fraud, for example, as Steinhardt arguably was—placing blame becomes complex. He has a history of ill-advised purchases of antiquities with dubious provenance. He gives his word that he will not repeat these indiscretions, even as the global trade in looted antiquities continues unabated. The bad guys, after all, “got his number.” And yet, there is a hint of sincere cooperation in the news reports.
By consenting, Steinhardt reserves the right to recover damages from the tomb robbers. If he has the nerve, he might even turn the table on the looters. After all, he was cheated out of money and reputation by a confidence man. Steinhardt merely loves art, specifically pagan antiquities, and that love became a human weakness. The profit motive likely can be dismissed; even if he intended to flip these items, the rate of return after paperwork, title verification, and expert appraisal would be disappointing. The trade in antiquities is nothing like the futures market, his true expertise.
Don't Buy a Pig in a Poke
What would any person with the collecting passion not give to own a treasure good enough to be displayed in a major museum? Yet, these objects did not arrive there by chance. They have histories, often bordering on myth. They are the common property of mankind. However, the recovered booty displayed in the photograph taken at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office looked less like a museum gallery and more like a flea market. How do we even know they aren’t fakes? While "hot" merchandise may hold market value, a fake is worth less than nothing.
A fair warning to anyone paying the assessed value of this hoard at $14 million: get it appraised before you buy.
The aesthetic judgment of the lot is particularly uncertain. Take the Pithos, a decorated clay pot. It is a second-rate example of its class. The geometry is, to use a pejorative term, bulimic. The girth-to-height ratio exceeds what is beautiful in a Greek vase. It looks like a special order, a "pot boiler" commissioned for a quick sale. It looks like nothing so much as a pig. The pink glaze does not help.
When one takes possession of illegal artifacts, one is buying "a pig in a poke." The Pithos may well be a black-market relic precisely because it is second-rate. That is a pity. Every shard of the past is a piece of the puzzle. But the stakes are higher when the cultural heritage of the world is at risk.
The true valuation of art is a process predicated on discovery, disclosure, investigation, history, contemplation, and analysis. It requires expert advice and, possibly, legal counsel. As with any purchase made in the shadows, the ancient warning remains: Caveat emptor.
Paintings by Brian Higgins can be viewed at sites.google.com/view/artistbrianhiggins/home