Art On The Fringe Valuing Art

There is a conflict of values that invades our perception of what Art is. It is a disagreement between the price put upon Art in terms of the obscene amounts of money that billionaires are willing to pay and the aesthetic appreciation of Art by those who can only stand and stare… but not buy.

This course will seek to come to terms with an evaluation of how we should understand, interpret and value Art as a fundamental aspect of human interaction and expression.

What is it that makes works of Art famous, popular and appreciated? Can we identify 20 most famous, sought after, admired pieces of work. Is it even possible to have a short list of twenty on the basis of loved, admired, acknowledged, lusted after or popular?

Who determines the duality of the financial and aesthetic value of works of Art? Who are the arbiters? The critics, the valuers, the auction houses, the agents, the curators, the patrons, or the footfall of the public as they walk through galleries, museums and stately homes all over the world?

Art and its collection become a compulsion in which notoriously famous pieces of work are snapped up by compulsive collectors who in turn sit alone in their grand houses looking at a masterpiece staring down upon them from their own walls.

It is market in which a world of forgery seeks, like some kind of Robin Hood, to create copies and fakes that fool the experts and beguile the collectors. To some it looks as if nothing has been stolen, it is schadenfreude when the rich are parted with their money. But we too are the victims, as nearly 40% of all museum and gallery collections are fraudulent.

The forgers are in it for multiple reasons, some for money, some as protest against the corruption of the Art World and others like mountain climbers…. because it is there. In many cases the forgers can create pieces of Art that are possibly improvements on the original work of the masters.

Ultimately it is a scandal in which worldwide every month, genuine items are stolen never to reappear and new creations are found whose authenticity is in severe doubt. It all depends on how you value what it is that we call……..Art!

3rd January        What Is Art?

17th January      20 most famous world of Art

24th January      Art Forgery

31st January      Shaun Greenhalgh forger from a shed in Bolton

7th February      Art on the Edge - Lost, stolen, damaged and found