Amusingly, late last year in the arts pages of a major Australian newspaper, an esteemed and deeply thoughtful national art critic pondered long and hard as to why a particular fifty-something contemporary artist was not more widely known and appreciated. Page after page of large colour-plate photographs illuminated with elegant text (in the art world that means long sentences and multiple commas) combined to extol the painterly virtues of a very good artist.
That weekend, art industry telephone calls flew hither and thither. On reading the article, a legion of the more grass roots art professionals – that is, the art dealers- shat themselves with laughter. You could hear their shrieks of mirth in Antarctica as they alternately fought for breath and convulsed with meltdown hilarity. The simple answer to the art critic’s bemused ponderings was that the artist in question was one of the most difficult people ever to have walked the planet.Continue Reading