decay and deceit

This page is collectibles as commodities that are perishable, may be misrepresented or may be forged.

It covers -

• introduction
• casualties
• crooks
• conservation
• studies

In complements a more detailed discussion of the forgery of antiquities, paintings by contemporary and other masters, and other collectibles.

     introduction

Statements by philosophers and marketers about "timeless beauty" and "enduring value" are expressions of hope or chutzpah that underrate the role of historical contingency and the physical characteristics of most collectibles.

Ultimately entropy wins most battles, with artworks and other collectibles being -

• deliberately destroyed in episodes of iconoclasm and biblioclasm
• 'loved to death' through over-exposure to humans, eg abrasion of tomb paintings by visitors to the Valley of the Kings, fungal and other damage to cave paintings in Lascaux and Australia's Northern Territory through humidity from tourists
• incidentally destroyed, lost or damaged in war and civil disturbance, for example the demise of the Amber Room in 1945 and of Luca Giordano frescoes at Monte Cassino in 1944
• damaged or destroyed by vandalism and misplaced activism, eg Toth's attack on Michelangelo's Pieta or a suffragette's slashing of Velázquez' Rokeby Venus in 1914
• casualties of natural disasters such as the 2002 Dresden Flood and 1966 Florence Flood
• victims of fires, such as the burning of Weimar's Anna Amalia Library in 2004
• damaged or destroyed by thieves, eg paintings from the Beit Collection at Russborough House and Munch's The Scream
• eroded by conservators, eg Duveen's scrubbing of the Elgin Marbles with steel wool, 'rescue' of Da Vinci's The Last Supper
• damaged by indifference, eg Greece's neglect of outdoor classical sculptures
• mistaken for rubbish and disposed of by cleaners (contemporary conceptual art such as piles of bricks and cigarette butts is a frequent casualty) or others (eg domestic servants mistakenly using manuscripts to start a fire)
• victims of inadequate materials and techniques, such as disintegration of works by Schnabel and Beuys, darkening of paintings by Maxfield Parrish.

Demand for the unique and 'imperishable' has, as discussed in more detail elsewhere on this site, also been addressed through deceit. Forgery of antiquities, Old Master paintings, contemporary lithographs, presidential letters, literary first editions and autographed baseballs is one hazard in collecting - a hazard that on occasion burns leading curatorial institutions. Misrepresentation by dealers and experts of items is another hazard, something that affects million dollar collectibles rather than merely what you might encounter in your local op shop.

     crooks

Great art is rare (although as the following pages illustrate recognition of greatness varies over time) and is often valuable.

That fosters misrepresentation by dealers and other vendors, with major auction houses and commercial galleries for example being known to 'look on the bright side' in describing works that range from tin toys to contemporary Australian indigenous art. Endorsement by a dealer or exposure amid red plush and faded gilt does not mean that an item is what it is claimed to be. Buyer beware.

It fosters turning a blind eye to illegal exports or sale of items with a problematical past (explored in the discussion of spoliation and repatriation elsewhere on this site).

It also fosters 'improvement' and outright faking of the objects of a heart's desire - antiquities, religious relics, rare books and manuscripts, oil paintings, lithographs, coins, baseballs and even murderabilia.

     conservation

If some collectors view fine art and other collectibles as frozen money, conservators see them as items under attack from time and chance ... subject to fire, flood, humidity, crazies, clumsiness and poor workmanship.

2007 for example saw hyperbole about decomposition of Damien Hirst's 1991 'shark in formaldehyde' work The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (reportedly bought by Steve Cohen from Charles Saatchi for £6.5m). Hirst responded that

Sadly, nothing in life lasts for ever, not even art objects When it comes to my work, lots of people think that I use formaldehyde to preserve an artwork for posterity, when in reality I use it to communicate an idea.

Other works have faded, fallen apart, been punched, dropped or otherwise injured.

Rindy Sam for example permanently damaged a €2 million 'white on white' Cy Twombly canvas by enthusiastically kissing it, reportedly leaving an indelible lipstick smear. French authorities responded in 2007 by seeking a €4,500 fine. Owner Yvon Lambert - unimpressed by Sam's claim that her kiss was "an act of love" - sought €2 million in damages and €33,400 for restoration costs.

The same year saw intruders broke into the Musée d'Orsay and punch a hole in Claude Monet's 1874 Le Pont d'Argenteuil. 2006 had seen a self-proclaimed performance artist use a hammer on Marcel Duchamp's 1917 Dada Fountain at the Pompidou Centre. Laszlo Toth, modestly crying "I am Jesus Christ - risen from the dead", had attacked Michelangelo's Pietà with a hammer in 1972. Franz Weng threw a bottle of ink at Leonardo's The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist in the National Gallery in London during 1962. Gerard Jan van Bladeren attacked Barnett Newman's Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow, and Blue III at the Stedelijk Museum in 1986. In 1975 Wilhelmus de Rijk used a breadknife to slash Rembrandt's The Night Watch in the Rijksmuseum.

Ten years later an identified man set fire to Rubens' portrait of King Philip IV of Spain in the Zurich Kunsthaus. Valentine Contrel used a pair of scissors on Ingres' The Sistine Chapel in the Louvre in 1907. Robert Cambridge fired a sawn-off shotgun at Leonardo's The Virgin and the Child with Saint Anne and John The Baptist in the National Gallery in London in 1987. A year later self-described "psychologically disturbed" Hans-Joachim Bohlmann sprayed Dürer's Mary as Grieving Mother and the Paumgartner Altar in Munich's Alte Pinakothek with sulfuric acid from a champagne bottle. He had earlier attacked van der Helst's 1648 Militia Banquet in the Rijksmuseum.





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