Week 3 Discussion

On May 11, 2016, The New York Times reported that Sotheby’s auction house announced bidding earnings for a single day of $242.2 million. At Christie’s the previous night a Japanese billionaire paid $57.3 million for a painting by the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. This begs the question, how can some oil paint on canvas stretched over a wood frame cost such an astronomical amount? 

Objective:

Discuss why global culture values works of art so highly.

Instructions:

Step 1. By Wednesday, write a detailed post explaining why you think some works of art are so expensive. Reflect on an experience you’ve had in a museum, art gallery, or other places art is sold. Then, answer the following questions:

• Does the rarity of an art object explain its cost?
• Is it costly because art represents the idealistic best of humanity?
• Is it just the going rate, like the price of diamonds or luxury cars, where the market generates the prices and amount buyers will pay?
• Are the prices determined by status and the lure and competition of the glamorous lifestyles of millionaires and billionaires?