Impressionism, Cubism, Pop Art, and Wall Street
After the long hours of ranking banks, discussing prestige, and arguing over the exit opportunities of GS TMT, one thing that the monkeys here love to do is talk about what to do with their future billions.
Well, here’s one for ya.
I’m a huge fan of art, particularly those of the Old Dutch masters and some of the Impressionists, but for some reason I’ve always had an affinity for contemporary works like Mark Rothko's and while browsing through Barry Ritholtz’s blog, I came across this link.
Another Pollock might be up for auction soon and with their prices hitting nine digits, we can guess who this might end up with.
Decades ago, patrons of the art usually had to have prefixes like HRH and HSH to afford them, but fast forward to today, they’ve been replaced with suffixes like CFA and MBA.
The titans of Wall Street are now the lords of the art collecting world; Blankfein has a few Warhols, Kravis has a couple Monet’s, and of course, the undisputed king is Stevie Cohen - with a collection worth somewhere around a billion including that infamous rotting shark he got from Damien Hirst.
Now, I’m curious as to what the monkeys here think of these trophies; when you actually get your billions, would you actually plunk down eight to nine digits for a piece of canvas with scribbles of paint on it?
$8 million for a smelly shark?
$28 million for a chair somebody probably farted on?
If not then what would you collect? Sports memorabilia perhaps?
And how much would you actually spend on them at the most?
As much as I love art (of which those two^ are not), I'd probably have a coronary from losing that much from my bank account.
Then again I’m no Stevie Cohen.
Enjoy your weekend monkeys.
I think we'd all have one thing in common that we'd collect: women.
Bottles and models...
Is the thread image a Rothko?
Buying a piece of art with scribbles in it isn't for the aesthetics itself but for buying a piece of history. Thousands of people can draw the Mona Lisa perfectly, but there's a reason those replicas cost $100 while the real thing costs $50 million - it's about the idea of ownership of the original. Art really divorces the aesthetic from the conceptual, and modern art has been a continual progression towards the almost purely conceptual end of the spectrum since the beginnings of Dada, surrealism, modernism, etc.
That being said, I think most of the guys buy art for that much because they know that in 10 years, they can sell for for twice as much as they bought it for. Even if it doesn't have intrinsic value, the fact that others would be willing to pay for it gives it sale value.
Monet's earlier works of the sail boats and ocean-side cliffs are some of my favorites. Although, I have a personal affinity to local artists and photographers and the works that were created by friends of mine.
Yes it is.
Thats what I thought. Sorry Jorge, love your posts but Rothko is expressionist (unless you didn't put the pic up).
EDIT: Im a fucking pretentious prick lol.
Which falls under the umbrella of contemporary art, says a bigger pretentious douche lol.
I'll take a Banksy
Old Dutch masters are great, the Rijksmuseum is an amazing place if you can accept going to an art museum while in Amsterdam.
Like this?
Latinamerican paintings and scupltures (Cienfuegos, Matta, Colvin, no Frida Kahlo in my place ... too creepy). Also, it's very likely i'll end up paying for my (artists meh) relatives needs. It sucks to be the only one in the family who has a real job in my family, beside my parents/uncles.
Its an investment opportunity, good art = profit = liquidity.
love me some van eyck
Art as an investment? Sure
Art just for the hell of it? Fucking retarded if you ask me. I'd rather donate $1MM to a nearby shelter/school. Yes it is YOUR money, and YOUR decisions, but I think we all have social/cultural responsibilities.
You can chit-chat as long as you want, but without altruism, we all will be doomed.
I'm a fan of Rubens and Van Dyck
I'd prefer unique pieces that appeal to me simply for aesthetics. I'd prefer something I find tasteful that complements my home rather than something famous and expensive for its own sake. If the two coincide, cool. Not just for its own sake though.
Cars. I love cars, I'd be more Leno than Cohen.
Jay Leno's Garage is quite an expansive collection. Although, I'm not too much of a fan of all the generic sports and luxury cars. My personal favorite collections are at the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition (championship winning cars of Aryton Senna, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, Mika Häkkinen, Nigel Mansell, etc.), the Porsche Museum (there rests the epic Le Mans winning 911 GT1-98 and many other iconic racers) and the BMW Museum (where many of the BMW "Art Cars" reside).
Not a huge art fan in general, but I would like to own a Roy Lichtenstein painting, preferably "Whaam!"
Trying to get my hands on a Kieron Williamson piece at the moment.
My gf just bought her second Rothko print this weekend. I like.
I've always been intrigued by collectors of medieval armor (authentic, not reproductions).
I would give almost anything to own a Porsche 917. Almost single-handedly saved the brand.
Count Rossi had a 917K converted for road use. Take note of the passenger seat.
I would participate in a bunch of private placements for universities that I support. Decent returns w/ the comfort of knowing that I'm helping higher education institutions operate or upgrade (depending on the specific project). Should we have to restructure, I'm sure field-side and / or court-side tickets would be part of the deal...
As far as garages go, if you're into Ferrari's very few could compete with Ralph Lauren's. And +1 on the Monet's James, my favorite's his Parliament series.
I've seen Samurai armor auctioned off, they're a hundred kinds of awesome but they're ridiculously expensive.
I would collect cars and houses like...
http://www.421blacklandroad.com/
and
I'm actually curious how much it cost to keep a few thousand cars on trickle chargers so you don't ruin the battery?? I bet it adds up, lol.
Regards
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