Saturn Devouring His Pension Plan
One of Dogtooth's recent posts raised the topic of art and value. He suggests that a copy of Sunflowers should be valued according to its similarity to the original. Not so. I can receive all the artistic value of Hamlet from a paperback copy (let's assume there has been no textual jiggery-pokery) but that does not mean that the manuscript for Hamlet would not be worth far more money. When I buy, for example, one of Goya's black paintings (see above), I am not only paying for the artistic value but also for a unique artifact. Of course as an impoverished sea creature I might think that rarity value a ridiculous extravagance, but I bet I'd change my mind if fifty million came rolling through the door.
1 comment:
Whoa! Steady on. I suggested that Roland Barthes would suggest that authenticity or originality were not attributes to value in a commodity. While I conceded that this is an enlightened approach, it is not the same as suggesting that originality would or indeed should fetch no greater sum. I'm not completely stupid.
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