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The Mona Lisa Curse
By caryn | September 19, 2008
There really couldn’t be a better time for Robert Hughes’ “The Mona Lisa Curse” to air on Channel 4 than now. With the Hirst auction explosion, the severe down-turn of the stock market, galleries closing but prices still rising, Hughes’ examination of the problems related to the commodification of art is poignant (and something recently discussed here).
Robert Hughes in the Telegraph:
“Instead of being the common property of humankind the way a book is, art becomes the particular property of somebody who can afford it,” Hughes says. “And when you have some Russian squillionaire who started buying art three minutes ago but has the GNP of Georgia in his pocket, how can museums compete? They can’t – which causes great social harm. Suppose that every worthwhile book in the world cost $1million ¬– imagine what a catastrophic effect on culture that would have.”
“Mona Lisa Curse” airs Sunday, September 21, at 6:30pm on Channel 4. For those of you outside of the UK I’ll see what streaming site I can find for you.
Image: Invader
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