Dubious Art For Sale by Linked-In Networkers

Abigail Esman has been trolling Linked In and finding a lot of folks who want to sell some art:

In the past few weeks, I’ve seen stockbrokers, real estate agents, builders, and, yes, even emerging rock stars offer up “original” works of art valued at tens of millions of dollars – and occasionally even more.  The purveyors of these works are, they say, seeking “interested parties” – collectors, investors, or art dealers who might wish to buy the works, or might know someone who does.

“I have four Monets,” one such person announced, “part of a group of 20 Monet paintings” that have been “sitting in a vault” for years and belong to (of course) a friend of a friend.  They are currently being authenticated, but surely they are real: they have all kinds of labels on the back. […] Another woman (whose credentials suggest she should know better) has offered lucky Linked-In members the chance to score a €135 million (yes, that’s 135 million euros) masterwork before the price inevitably goes up. She knows it’s real: she’s spoken to the owner.  I guess he told her so.

Worst of all, perhaps, are the “financial advisors,” guys (they always seem to be men) who sweep in and announce that a client has “more than 15 million dollars worth of art” he’d  like to divest, or “more than 15 million dollars” available to buy “important 19^th and 20^th century art works by the masters.” (Apparently, said client has never heard of Christie’s. Nor, evidently – despite the magnitude of his collection and his drive to buy important art — does he know a single art dealer who can help him.)  “Absolute discretion,” these financial advisors announce to the several thousand members of the group, “is both required and assured.”

Sure, dude. No problem.

For Sale on Linked-In: Four Monets, Three Picassos, Two Leonardos . . . (Forbes)