The Truth About the Art World

I have had many interviews over the years but they all focus on my book, my story and my life in Hollywood.

No one has zeroed in on the problems in the art business the way they are looking at the financial worlds, and explaining to people why the art world is collapsing.

Sales have dropped 40% at the auctions. Word has it that Sotheby's borrowed 250 million dollars to pay off debts.  On line auctions are taking over the big houses.  Dealers are going out of business left and right and unable to sell good things because they refuse to lower prices and tell the truth.

People are skeptical and weary and the sad thing is the art suffers.  Art Fairs are a disaster... Shows are going unattended. 

The facades of the market are falling and people are realizing that those who got caught in the hype of these past few years spending ridiculous amounts of money for Damian Hirst and Jeff Koons, Warhol etc.are not able to recoup their money because there are no secondary markets.

The middle markets have been cut out by the auction houses and high flying dealers who feed off the rich and famous.  No different than hedge funds that are no more.

The art world is reflective of a society gone sour with greed and dishonesty and it’s time to talk about it.

The good news is that things are changing, the art world will rebuild itself like America will but only those willing to tell the truth and be honest about what they are doing will survive.  The days of dealers dealing among themselves making believe that people are buying their wares are over.

The days of getting 100 million for a painting by telling this billionaire and that one that someone else is going to steal that piece from them if they don't bid on it are few and far between.

Auction sales are not what they are cracked up to be... mid to low estimates at the most and aside from the ultra rich, very few people with average incomes can afford to attend such sales.  If you look behind the scenes, many lots are unsold and sold lots are often returned for one reason or another.

At the biggest photography sale of a French Collector at Christies last month the room was packed with media, television people etc. filming the event.... the room had 75 people at the most and one or two raised their hands.

All bids were on the phone or hand held by the auctioneer forced by the auction house's ability to manipulate its regular clientele into buying.

I helped to forge international art markets and I can tell you honestly that even when rooms are filled with potential bidders there are only a handful actually buying. Most sales are pre-sold by auction houses who persuade their clients to buy, pulling bids out of them to get the objects sold, the general public is not aware of such things.  Few people buy art any longer for the pure sake loving what they are seeing, walking around and spending money as they once did in the 70's 80's.  Since the 90’s its almost always about investment, making money and turning a profit even for hard core collectors.

The art market went into a recession in the 90's came back and went into remission in 2000. It took less than ten years for the dis-ease of the art business to rear its ugly head and although it appears to be in remission, the dis-ease of the way the art world works is still present at an even deeper level than it has been before. In a recent feature story in New York Magazine, it’s stated that The Art Business is the last unregulated billion dollar market that operates in the shadows of gray areas.

What’s happening in the art world is indicative of what is occurring in America. People should know why this country is falling apart and it is not just about greed and money it’s about the loss of soul and spirit.  We fell short because we allowed ourselves to become materialistic to the point that we thought money and power was more important than honesty.

And the fact that the Russians, Asians and Arabs are truly the ones keeping the art market alive proves that although the end is here there are also new beginnings.

Tod Michael Volpe

My work is not about dealing art its about helping people in the art world and in the business world find their way through the maze.  And to help people learn how to love art again and enjoy it for its own sake not because it is an item of luxury how I started at flea markets restoring things I loved and helping others see the beauty in things.

Cinema & Art

Recently in the NY Times, a feature story appeared regarding an up coming show about cinema and art more specifically the work of Salvador Dali and the affect Dali's work has had in the cinematic world.

The star of the show is a painting Dali executed for Hitchcock's "Spellbound" called 'The Eye'.

When I uncovered 'The Eye' from its temporary resting place in Naples Florida in the mid 90's, it was in the hands of a real estate developer. At that time no one including the owner of the painting at the time knew much about the painting except that it had been a study for the backdrop of the movie's surreal dream sequence.

An image of the work had appeared in a book on Dali by Robert Descharnes, expert on the work of Dali and several attempts had been made to sell the picture but no one thought it was worth much more than what the owner was asking.

When I laid eyes on the piece at a warehouse in NYC, I knew the painting had a soul and spirit that was trying to be released. I immediately immersed myself in the aura of this incredible icon and began a relationship with the painting, walking the path as they say, or the road less travelled.

Over the next two years I was able to find out further information about the picture, had it cleaned and reframed in black lacquer and gave it the respect it deserved. Sean Connery's son approached me for a show he was trying to put together called "Hollywood Collects". But that show never took off.

The painting was offered through an investor who I had joined forces with at the time to promote and market the picture to great collectors in Hollywood and the New York art world but again no one seemed to care much about an oculus that was not considered as valuable to the art crowd as a standard surreal work by this master. I always gravitated towards breaking new ground with art since my former partner and I opened the Jordan Volpe Gallery in New York in 76 and broke ground in the American art world,, pioneering a style of collecting that has become an international phenomenon.

When I saw 'The Eye' plastered on a full page in the NY Times (June 27th) it struck me how little people really know about its existence and what the painting went through to arrive at such a prestigious location.

More information and rather delicious stories about the work's migration north can be read in my memoir "Framed" ECW Press available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.

My book was first published in the UK by Mainstream (Braveheart / Catch Me If You Can) and is soon to become a feature film.

In the story of my rise, fall and redemption I refer to 'The Eye' several times as being my savior and my nemesis because by owning that painting for a short period of time, for its magic to pass through my hands, I learned the difference between illusion and truth.

What is really amazing is that the painting in Hitchcock's movie stands for truth when the man accused of killing someone near and dear to him finds out it was an accident and not something he should continually punish himself for.

Life has a strange way of teaching us lessons.

For further info about 'The Eye' please read 'Framed' or contact me at mezmerist@yahoo.com