Indian Artist's Painting sold for a record 1.5 million

Now what this painting all about?

[McMohan]

[inhome.rediff.com...]

Indian artist Tyeb Mehta set a new record when his painting Mahishasura was bought by a private collector of Indian origin for a whopping $1.584 million at a Christie's auction in New York on Wednesday.

Looked hard into the painting and this bean-sized brain of mine couldn't make out what makes this painting a master piece.

[lawman]

Pursuant to the WW TOS, I am precluded from offering my interpretation. :)

[macrost]

Ummm, yeah, I am so with you lawman.

[digitalghost]

I call it emperor has no clothes artwork. No one wants to point out that it's, umm, well, mediocre.

[Syzygy]

Based on this type of outstanding artistic quality, when working as sub-editor on an international arts and antiques mag a few years ago, a colleague and I invented an artist - and his metier.

Our artist has provenance of exhibiting in at least one major European retrospective.

The figurehead editor of the mag - an acknowledged expert & familiar face on a certain UK art & antiques programmes had no idea!

Oh, my sides hurt now!

Syzygy

[sonny]

Isn't that illegal in 48 states?

[Webwork]

From the newspaper's quote of the artist's explanation of his painting:

transformation after uniting with the divine

There's somthing missing in the image.

Where's the cigarette?

Honey, I feel divinely transformed after uniting. You?

[Essex_boy]

Its rubbish - theyve been had

[Leosghost]

I went through artschool with someone who is now one of Christies "experts" ..he had no talent ..no judgement ( but his dad was quite a famous artist ..member of the RA and had contacts ;-) ..so got him into artschool and his later job ..
He has been "valueing" pictures over the years since then ..he is always wildy wrong in his estimations of final auction price ..
And authenticating very many works as genuine which have later been proved to be copies or fakes ..a few of these cases have been leaked outside the auction house art critic world ..most have been hushed up ...

He knows no more now than he ever did ..
Many people are convinced he knows a great deal..cos if he is a Christies "expert" he must do ..

Emporer's clothes is exactly right ( and I actually like a lot of abstract stuff that many of you probably wouldn't like...some of it is harder to do than it looks ) however much is also crap ..as is this peice ...

But never forget the artworld is run by and for "experts" ..obvious crap needs "experts" to explain it all to "the unenlightened" ...and people with lots of spare money are not necessarily endowed with taste so tend to be prey to "experts"..

The purchase price may even be a good investment ..providing that next time it comes up for auction the experts can convince another sucker to pay even more for it ..Oh and of course to pay them handsomely for explaining the "art"...

Most art is a scam ...most "modern art" even more so ...Picasso agreed ..

[photon]

Best definition of art I've seen:

Art is anything you can get away with.

[Essex_boy]

Thats very true, just look at Tracy Emins work for starters.

I dont consider anything art if its something im able to reproduce.

[Syzygy]

Tracy Emin - lol. Half a dozen years ago she had her 'bed' on display in London (Tate Modern?). Much to her chagrin a couple of visitors (who worked at the same company as I) launched themselves at the bed and spent a couple of minutes jumping up and down on it like naughty school kids. Photo's of their mischieviousness made national headlines.

I also recall the story of the gentleman who lost his wallet and, upon retracing his steps, was amazed to see an appreciative crowd had gathered around it in London's Tate Modern...!

This is the same 'museum' that had a glass of water on display as an exhibit, and which also housed the Turner Prize-winning genius that was a room with a light being turned off and on every 30 seconds (a creative masterpiece from an artist [Creed?] who had previously attracted much publicity with his stunning and original "light being turned on and off every 15 seconds".)

Syzygy

[travelin cat]

Photon... actually art is anything that somebody else is willing to pay for....

Is Jacson Pollack's work art? I don't think so, but people pay MONSTROUS money for it, so I guess it is...