Hello everyone. Who here loves modern art? Not me. Not your Feisty Indian Aunty. And she makes no excuses for instead loving the beautiful works of art of the Renaissance period.
I went to Paris to see the Mona Lisa, I went to Rome three times to see Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I adore The Pieta in St. Peter’s Basilica, as well as his Moses at San Pietro. This is the art that moves me emotionally. My love for traditional art is deep-rooted but it does not mean I scoff at modern art. The fact is that I simply don’t understand what it says. It doesn’t really mean anything to me. Michelangelo’s Pieta moved me to tears but I just don’t get modern art.
A friend of mine once bought a painting in a night market for a few thousand Lira in Rome. He did so because he liked the look of it. Years later he was asked to name a price for the painting by a friend. He refused. Only then did he realize that it was an original Salvador Dali.
Watching Made You Look puzzled me to no end. Here is a woman, Ann Freedman, who is an expert in the art market. She is someone who understands modern art. She gets involved with a woman named Glafira Rosales who weaves a beautiful tale of having found “lost pieces” of modern art by people she knew. (We all know that budding artists suffer in their early years until someone is brave enough to give them a start in life, or offer up an exhibition for their works.) The art pieces Glafira showed here were indeed stunning, but Ann Freedman did her homework and let the experts review the art pieces in question. All the experts gave a thumbs up.
She did everything by the book. The modernist’s, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko’s, paintings were “beautiful,” despite the fact that these had no “provenance,” no catalogue, and no paperwork. For any art gallery, the history of the art work is vital and one should be able to trace it back to the artist. Domenico De Sole was the Chairman of Sotheby’s and Tom Ford Int. and he was furious that he bought a Rothko, and when realized that it was a fake, he blamed Ann Freedman for knowingly selling him a fake.
Surely Domenico De Sole is also to blame. He did not know Ann Freedman at all and he did not make any attempt to verify the art piece. Whatever happened to caveat emptor. Even Rothko’s son, during the court case, said that the painting was beautiful even though he knew it was a fake.
Art dealers appear to be a scheming lot. If they are caught with an art piece that was not authenticated properly, they will alienate themselves from the buyer, the seller, and lie blatantly. The blame falls fully on the art dealer and even if she has done her job correctly, she can still be conned.
The truth is that I fall into the same category as Ann Freedman as I trust people wholeheartedly knowing that I can be hurt both mentally and financially. But what is life all about if you cannot trust people without reservation? God knows I don’t want to live my life constantly questioning everyone around me. I feel for Ann Freedman. She was just conned big time and paid the price with her reputation.
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