Art Reboot

58 in 1610, depicting ten views of a strange stone in the collection of a famous connoisseur and collector called Mi Wanzhong, became the most expensive Chinese painting at auction in 1989 when it made US$1.21 million. Resold in China recently, it made more than US$77 million. It is the second time this painting has held the world record for any Chinese painting sold at auction. That fact also enhances its oomph in the art world, and will undoubtedly increase its value when on the market again. Most art exhibitions are full of visitors wandering from label to label, reading each with care but barely glancing at the actual works of art. To the uninitiated, the label is a clue as to how important the work of art is and what it should mean to them. Read ‘Joe Picklenick (b.1986) Splodge of Blue ’, and you are un- likely to give it much time. But when you come to ‘Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) The Starry Night ’, you’re likely to pay more attention, and in all probability stand in awe in front of one of the world’s more famous paintings, even if you’re a bit disappointed at how small it is. But even the worldwide fame of this particular painting rests in part upon a later accretion, the Don McLean song Vincent , which brought it to the attention of millions of people who would otherwise be unaware of its existence. Mc- Lean may have contributed as much to its current commercial value as Van Gogh himself did, perhaps even more than the singer earned from his worldwide hit. The reality, then, is that the value of art is driven by the world’s aesthetic movers and shakers and their countless follow- ers. When they decide that The Starry Night shines while Joe Picklenick’s Splodge of Blue is no more than just that, poor old