http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/05/05/adventures-with-warhol-1986-self-portrait-edition/ A slice of lime in the soda Thu, 23 May 2013 23:51:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/05/05/adventures-with-warhol-1986-self-portrait-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-26316 thispaceforsale Fri, 06 May 2011 03:30:17 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/?p=8144#comment-26316 One way of looking at art is that it is all market capitalization and no intrinsic value. An auction house attempts to create an artificial intrinsic value, whether they want to convince buyers that Warhol is Important, Purple is a power color, or an item is the last chance to buy it until it goes back in the Disney vault doesn't really matter. Once you believe in a world where art can be $300k or $30 million, logic falls away. The consumption may or may not be conspicuous, the value, even with impeccable marketing materials, is definitely not. One way of looking at art is that it is all market capitalization and no intrinsic value. An auction house attempts to create an artificial intrinsic value, whether they want to convince buyers that Warhol is Important, Purple is a power color, or an item is the last chance to buy it until it goes back in the Disney vault doesn’t really matter. Once you believe in a world where art can be $300k or $30 million, logic falls away. The consumption may or may not be conspicuous, the value, even with impeccable marketing materials, is definitely not.

]]> http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2011/05/05/adventures-with-warhol-1986-self-portrait-edition/comment-page-1/#comment-26279 dWj Thu, 05 May 2011 17:18:59 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/?p=8144#comment-26279 This post is related to the post about the US defaulting that immediately preceded it: a slightly different self-portrait is to this self-portrait as default on social security obligations is to default on bonds. In both cases what will ultimately matter is whether they are viewed as the same (or as close substitutes); if bond investors / art collectors believe they are irrelevant to each other, they are, and if they believe they're entirely the same thing, then they are. This post is related to the post about the US defaulting that immediately preceded it: a slightly different self-portrait is to this self-portrait as default on social security obligations is to default on bonds. In both cases what will ultimately matter is whether they are viewed as the same (or as close substitutes); if bond investors / art collectors believe they are irrelevant to each other, they are, and if they believe they’re entirely the same thing, then they are.

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