首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Tell an investment banker that a picture bought in 1950 for $30,000 sold this month for $104.1 million and you will be unlucky i
Tell an investment banker that a picture bought in 1950 for $30,000 sold this month for $104.1 million and you will be unlucky i
admin
2011-03-10
50
问题
Tell an investment banker that a picture bought in 1950 for $30,000 sold this month for $104.1 million and you will be unlucky if you fail to get his attention. That was the case with the portrait of a young boy by Picasso when Sotheby’s dispersed on May 5 the tail end of the famous collection formed by the late John Hay Whitney and his wife Betsy Cushing Whitney. Sales added up to almost $190 million within two hours.
If you then go on to explain that Whitney bought the 1905 portrait not for investment but for art’s sake, because he loved 19th- and 20th-century painting, you might well be greeted with a stare of compassionate irony.
Yet that was exactly so. Had the heir to a vast fortune consulted experts at the time, most would have advised against the acquisition. Received wisdom in the 1950s had it that it was Picasso’s breakthrough in modern art that made him truly important, i. e. his early Cubist work.
The Picasso case, which is probably the greatest success story ever in the art market, neatly illustrates the financial gamble that buying art represents. The biggest winners are not investors, but art lovers with a great eye who follow their intuition.
Art cannot be an investment because perception determines everything. No two works are ever identical. One Picasso does not equal another Picasso. On May 6, one day after the Whitney sale, Sotheby’s was offering another five Picassos. All fetched different prices.
That night the market was on a roll and two of the Picassos sold extremely well. Even so, their diverging fates illustrate the impossibility of predicting prices. Presale calculations are frequently belied, up or down. "Le Nu Accroupi" (describing a seated woman), dated "21/24.6.59," was expected to bring $3 million to $4 million plus the 12 percent sale charge. Furious bidding sent it climbing to $11,768,000.
The second of the two most expensive Picassos sold within the expected price bracket, costing $14,792,000."Le Sauvetage" ("The ReScue") was painted in November 1932.This is seen as a seminal year. Why did it not arouse enthusiasm in proportion to the "Nu Accroupi" and increase the estimate by 250 percent?
One reason, in favor of the "Nu Accroupi", is that the figure of the seated woman is distorted in a manner that best fits the general public’s idea of what Picasso’s art looks like. The face broken up in separate halves that can be read as seen sideways or full front is typical of this stereotype even if in reality Picasso was the most versatile artist of his time.
Another reason works against "Le Sauvetage". A jarring note is introduced by the spiky rendition of the human figures. Moreover, some deem the composition to be loose. Others, by contrast, praise its rhythm. The argument can go on indefinitely. In short, no complete agreement is ever reached over the aesthetic characterization of a painting. Nor is there ever total agreement over the assessment of its importance relative to the artist’s oeuvre. How good within the 1932 style "Le Sauvetage" is will be seen differently by different viewers.
Cubism was a crucial phase of Picasso’s art in the view of virtually all art historians today and yet the-1909 to 1914 revolutionary works are not always well received by the public at auction.
Immediately before the "Nu Accroupi", a large charcoal sketch of a man’s head done by Picasso in 1909 in his first Cubist manner reflecting the impact that African sculpture had on its emergence came up with a $400,000 to $600,000 estimate. The drawing came from a European estate, and works with an estate provenance generally do well because they have long been out of sight. Moreover, it had previously passed through the hands of one of the greatest 20th-century dealers, Heinz Berggruen, while he was based in Paris. All to no avail. The drawing fell unsold, probably too ungainly for its art historical importance to weigh sufficiently in its favor. But both these characterizations are a matter of perception.
The last paragraph tells us all of the following EXCEPT that ______.
选项
A、that large charcoal sketch by Picasso is not appealing to the eyes
B、that charcoal sketch is Picasso’s first Cubist work
C、it had previously passed through the hands of one of the greatest 20th-century dealers
D、paintings long out of the sight of the public tend to be forgotten
答案
D
解析
最后一段告诉我们什么?排除错误的一项分析。“…works with an estate provenance generally do well because they have long been out of sight. ”原文中这句意思是来自家族遗产的作品一般卖得比较好,因为在市面上已经很久不见了。但没有说公众会忘记这幅作品的存在。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/0HYO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Foraclearerpictureofwhatthestudentknows,mostofteachersuse【M1】_______anotherkindofexaminationinadditionto
A、Theadvantagesofaneconomybasedonfarming.B、Reasonsfarmerscontinuedusingrivertransportation.C、Theroleofcottonin
A、692million.B、25.25billion.C、330million.D、358million.A
A、$18.1millionB、$25millionC、$39.4millionD、$41.5millionB
A、Goonlineandwaitforthedeliveryofthebookordered.B、Checkthelibrary’swebsiteandthengotothelibrary.C、Goonline
Mentalhealthprofessionalmaybesurprisedtodiscoverhowmuchishappeningonlinetodayinthehealthcarefield.Workingclos
A、Goonlineandwaitforthedeliveryofthebookordered.B、Checkthelibrary’swebsiteandthengotothelibrary.C、Goonline
Behindthebrewingwaroverprotectingpatients’recordsinanageofHMOsandonlinemedicine.Technologyisatwo-edgedswor
随机试题
“以自我为中心,以闲适为格调”是哪位文学家的主要思想()
宫颈癌的临床表现不包括
A.中介体B.包涵体C.吞噬体D.线粒体E.异染颗粒可用于鉴别细菌的结构是
福利部门人员的职工薪酬应计入()账户。
将以下作品与作者用线连起来。《静物与金鱼》拉斐尔《雪中猎人》马蒂斯《西斯廷圣母》勃鲁盖尔《格尔尼卡》
下列哪项是描述发散思维的特征?()
“信息高速公路”是指:
可是,我真爱北平。这个爱几乎是要说而说不出的。我爱我的母亲。怎样爱?我说不出。在我想做一件事讨她老人家喜欢的时候,我独自微微地笑着;在我想到她的健康而不放心的时候,我欲落泪。言语是不够表现我的心情的,只有独自微笑或落泪才足以把内心揭露在外面一些来。我之爱北
Ifsustainablecompetitiveadvantagedependsonworkforceskills,Americanfirmshaveaproblem.Human-resourcemanagementisno
Answerquestionsbyreferringtothebriefintroductionto4differentAmericanIndiantribes.Note:Whenmorethanoneansw
最新回复
(
0
)