Pretend that you have $43.8 million and can spend it on anything you want.
What would it be?
More than likely you’re not thinking of art.
And, no, not some great work from centuries past, but a solid blue canvas with a line
down the middle from the year 1953.
That’s right, while you were dreaming of fancy cars and high-end real estate, someone
who actually had $43.8 million spent it on an oversized blue square.
But why?
Let’s learn about some of the worst yet most expensive art purchases ever in this
episode of The Infographics Show, How Can Really ‘Dumb’ Paintings go for Millions?
Like many things in life, art is in the eye of the beholder.
When most people look at Onement VI by Barnett Newman, for example, they see a larger-than-life
cobalt square with a light blue line down its center.
To them, this is about as impressive as it sounds.
The sole source of wonder in their case is wondering just how much blue paint was wasted
to make it.
However, those from the art world see it very, very differently.
This was showcased during an auction of the piece in May of 2013.
The scene was tense.
Half a dozen collectors were in the grips of a bidding war while the audience looked
on in awe.
Eventually, the piece was sold.
Applause followed.
Those watching could only guess the mysterious winner’s identity, as bids were taken over
the phone.
Whoever it was, he or she had set a new record for the artist of the piece in question.
While another painting in the Onement series had brought in $22.4 million the year before,
Onement VI was sold for $43.8.
In other words, someone had paid almost double that amount.
So, what does this person see that the rest of us don’t?
Well, according to artist Barnett Newman’s website, it is the fact that the work is just
blue that gives it its appeal.
Because it has nothing on it, it can supposedly mean anything to anyone.
The artist believed that people who approached it would become lost within it due to the
vast blue space.
Including an actual picture, in this case, would be a distraction.
And, for the record, the vertical line down the middle is not a line, either, but something
that has apparently never been done quite the same way before.
In Newman’s work it is a “zip” and identifies his paintings from those of others.
When he first used it, in fact, he described it as an imaginative leap forward.
This zip is literally defined as a band of color that goes from the top to the bottom.
However, to the artsy crowd it is something much, much more.
And, believe it or not, Newman is not the only artist whose questionable work is selling
for multi-millions.
There’s also the Untitled yellow and blue piece by Mark Rothko who seems to have put
about as much effort into the painting as he did when giving it its name.
It, too, has only two colors, and yes, they are yellow and blue.
He used these to make a large yellow canvas with a single blue rectangle near the bottom.
What was someone willing to pay for this masterpiece?
Much more than you would think.
Untitled beat Onement VI by almost three million.
How did it go for that much?
Well, let’s again look at it from the art world’s perspective.
That square canvas with that rectangle- well those are not actually a square and rectangle
after all.
They are an expression of emotion, such as ecstasy, doom, or tragedy and are meant to
make those who look at it feel these things or, as the art savvy would say, communicate
with the canvas.
Maybe a title could have helped with figuring out what specifically the artist intended
us to feel here, but perhaps that’s asking a bit too much.
Even without guidance, we are certainly feeling something.
It’s best described as a combination of shock, confusion, and disbelief and mainly
in connection to the price tag, not the painting, but we digress.
As unbelievable as the cost for these two paintings are, neither compares with the again
originally titled Untitled by Cy Twombly.
This great work sold for $69.6 million.
With a price like that you expect amazing things.
Not what literally looks like a grey chalkboard with some white scribbles on top.
We kid you not.
It looks like a two-year-old was left alone with a piece of chalk and that, according
to the artist, is precisely the point.
Untitled is actually a part of an entire series, the Blackboard series to be exact.
But before we call these scribbles childish, the artist would set us straight.
They are only childlike.
It in fact takes great skill to mimic the work of a child exactly and one has to feel
the scribble as a child would feel it.
Then, and only then, can you pull off four rows of scrawl with such masterful technique.
Lines, squares, or scrawl, the fact remains that more than one person paid unbelievable
sums for these paintings and, in fact, beat out the competition to do it.
So, what makes a “dumb” painting sell for millions?
Is it just a deeper artistic appreciation that the rest of us don’t quite understand?
Is it that we see a line when it’s really a zing, and a square when it’s really some
doom, or scrawl when its really masterful childhood mimicry?
Well, perhaps, on some level.
But there’s more to it than that.
For example, the auctioneer that night in 2013 described those bidding on the Onement
VI painting as very educated and who “know what is what.”
It’s quite easy to know if a painting is a Newman work since his signature trademarks
are colors with blank space and some zip.
Whether it is brown space with a yellow zip, or orange space with a brown zip, or even
a mind-blowing dark red space with a lighter red zip, the style is, for better or worse,
quite recognizably his.
The same is true for Mark Rothko.
While it may be a black canvas with an orange box, or a brown canvas with an orange and
blue box, or a yellow canvas with a red box, it’s not hard to see a theme.
After a little practice you would also know that art with some graffiti, scribbles, or
scrawl are likely those of Twombly as well.
Each artist has his tells woven into these millions-of-dollars-worth of paint.
Those who bought the artists’ work likely wanted something it was obvious that these
specific men created and were willing to shell out the big bucks to make it happen.
And why wouldn’t they?
Each of these artists is widely celebrated and quite well known among those who have
a taste for the modern arts.
Further, none are still living which means there are a limited amount of paintings out
there which further increases their value by also making them rare.
This is frequently acknowledged as being important to collectors.
Those covering the 2013 auction, for example, claimed that the rarest pieces got the highest
bids which included Onement VI.
Others not rare enough remained unsold.
Onement V1, on the other hand, is one of six pieces in the Onement series.
Four of them are on exhibit, with one hanging in the Museum of Modern Art.
Newman, who passed away in July of 1970, will never make another.
Cy Twombly’s painting was a part of a limited series also, and Mark Rothko’s painting
is not without its own distinctions as well.
The yellow and blue piece was previously owned by the famous Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, considered
at one time to be among the richest women in the world.
This added intrigue likely ups its value even further.
The richest of the rich do appreciate art.
But it is also true that many want something created by someone famous who only made one
or will never make more.
There is only one Onement VI, for example, and the artist is no longer around to create
another.
Many who see it know this as well as its value and the implied dollar signs behind its purchase.
In effect, a millions-of-dollars painting that is truly one-of-a-kind has become a type
of status symbol among those with money to burn.
Seeing news of your purchase splashed across every headline, particularly if it breaks
some sort of a record, must be nice as well.
It is not so much the seemingly dumb painting itself, but what it represents, that is so
priceless to these collectors.
So now that you know what the art world thinks and why the rich spend millions on dumb looking
art does it make more sense?
Or does it still seem rather dumb?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called How does Banksy actually make money?
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!