It just sold for 5 billion.
It's brilliant.
Oh, it's performance art!
These rich snobs don't know more about art than you.
They're mostly just here to make money.
Oh!
We're told that art like this is so expensive
because it's the best in the world.
But the fact is, you're looking at a massive price-fixing scheme
that benefits wealthy collectors and excludes artists like you.
Adam, shush it!
The prices here are high because the art is objectively good.
Nope. The prices are high because
a small group of galleries and collectors decided it was good,
and once they do that,
the price goes up, whether or not anyone else agrees.
You. Paint something.
(gasps)
I declare this valuable art.
Go find more cubed meat.
We're gonna be rich.
(chuckles)
Well, outsider art is a rich tradition.
How much is this worth?
There's no way to tell.
Big galleries actually keep their prices a secret
so they can change them depending on who the buyer is.
For you, my friend, ten grand,
and for you, my enemy, 200 grand.
And they do their best to keep out buyers
who are considered elites.
Daniel Radcliffe once tried to buy a fancy painting,
dealer told him
prestigious collector.
For you? Not for sale.
Please, sir.
I just want one painting that doesn't talk to me.
Why are you doing this to me?
Because if the gallery only sells to art world elites,
they'll be seen as a better brand,
which means all of their other paintings will be worth more.
Ah.
(cash registers dinging)
Hmm. That is shady behavior.
Well, luckily, we outsiders could just go to art auctions.
They're democratic open markets where anyone can buy.
Sorry, but the major auction houses
are just as rigged as the galleries.
(pounds gavel)
Auctions play all sorts of dirty tricks to drive their prices up,
like straight up paying people to bid.
Let's start the bidding at $4 million.
(snoring)
4 million.
And if the bidding is too slow,
auctioneers even use a practice called chandelier bidding.
They just point to a random spot above everyone's heads
and pretend to see a bid.
And I see 5 million from the bidder in the back,
she's my girlfriend who you don't know 'cause she lives in Canada.
Whoop, she's back across the border, so don't turn around.
Oh, whatever. Six million.
Why are you okay with this?
Oh, simple, darling.
I own other paintings by this artist,
so when this one sells high,
it increases the value of my entire collection.
Sometimes we even bid anonymously
to drive up the price.
Up next, we have a fine comdiment-based work
from an emerging artist.
Ooh!
I want to bid on this one.
We should all bid on this one.
Let's start the bidding at $7 million.
This shady market can also be manipulated by crooks who use it
to defraud the government and launder dirty money.
Hello.
I would like to buy a painting from your fine gallery
using legitimate cash moneys.
The red is... paint.
But not all collectors are crooks.
I mean, there's good people out there
who donate their collections to museums.
Sure, and that seems very charitable,
until you remember that that donation is also a tax write-off.
And here's where it can get really shady.
The collectors hire their own appraisers
to determine the value of the art they donate,
so they can use it as one big tax dodge.
You owe 40 million in taxes this year.
Ugh!
What if I donate this painting worth 40 million?
At the end of the day, this is what the fine art market is.
A few rich people passing money around.
No! No! Then I want no part of this!
Screw this gallery and screw this opening!
I will make it in the fine art world on my own.
Sorry, that's not really how it works.
Persephone, this is Allison Schrager.
She's an economist and journalist at Quartz
who has reported on the fine art market.
Not only is the fine art world manipulated financially,
it's also extremely exclusive.
Only a small share of artists are allowed to succeed
and only their work is considered valuable.
And those aren't necessarily the best artists.
Often, they're just the ones who are best at
marketing themselves and at playing the gallery game.
One art dealer I spoke with even admitted
that the art you buy in the street
is cheaper and often just as good,
it's just not as prestigious,
so big collectors in museums just aren't interested in it.
And that means this small group of ultra wealthy investors
ends up defining what fine art is.
So the fine art world is all a lie,
and it's all about money
and who gets into this stupid snobby club?
More or less.