Daphne Merkin sets the stage for Gagosian Gallery’s collaboration with artist Neil Jenney, who many feel is under-valued:
All the same, far from being an art world naïf — which one might reasonably assume, given Mr. Jenney’s fiercely independent spirit — he is, despite his reclusive temperament, someone who has always enjoyed playing the art game. This includes selling his own work out of his 11,000-square-foot studio on Wooster Street, replete with a Ping-Pong table, where’s he’s lived since 1973. According to one collector, Andrew Hall, Mr. Jenney — whose pronouncements include “I have a great respect for the dollar bill” — is no slouch when it comes to assessing his market value. After Mr. Hall bought two pieces for more than he bargained for and requested an invoice, Mr. Jenney wrote the prices down in pencil on a piece of paper and then scrawled “CHEAP” next to them. […]
None of this is to suggest that Mr. Jenney has disappeared under a rock. His work continues to attract serious collectors, like Mr. Hall, Eli Broad and Emily Fisher Landau, and it has been acquired by major museums in the United States and Europe. But for those who consider him a truly major artist, he has not only been overlooked but undervalued. “The prices his work commands in the market don’t reflect its quality and its importance,” Mr. Hall said.
An Artist Reluctant to Sell Himself (NYTimes)
