Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Remembering Morley Safer as an Art Savant

May 21, 2016 by Marion Maneker

Screen Shot 2016-05-20 at 10.29.35 PM

Morley Safer died this week. He had a long and distinguished career on 60 Minutes. He also was the correspondent for a notorious piece that ran in 1996 that raised a bushy eyebrow at the art world as a scam. Hilton Kramer and Brian Sewell provide the appropriate critical unmasking of the fraudulent artists who, Kramer assuredly says at the end, life in dread fear of waking up one day to find the magic spell has broken.

Safer did a follow up piece 14 years later at ArtBasel in Miami. Intellectual honesty might have required him to admit he had it wrong. But that second piece was another self-assured dismissal of Contemporary art. Too bad. Safer, it turns out, had an extraordinary knack for fixating on artists who remain sought after 20 years later.

Watch the segment now. You can play a little game along with the report where you see which works of art Safer mocks and ask yourself if that’s a work by some now-forgotten artist. Then, look at the time stamp to see how long it took you to find an obscure work or artist. It won’t be the Twombly, the Richter, the Ryman or the Wool. Safer stops to chat with a collector in front of Gober and a Felix Gonzales-Torres.

Safer scratches his head—as everyone does—while listening to Jeff Koons explain the meaning of his art works. They happen to do it in front of the single-basketball Equilibrium piece that Peter Brant just sold at Christie’s.

Screen Shot 2016-05-20 at 10.28.40 PM

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Grounding the Whitney's AmbitionsGrounding the Whitney's Ambitions
  • Christie’s London Old Master Evening = £18.9mChristie’s London Old Master Evening = £18.9m
  • Christie’s London Imp/Mod, Surrealism Eve Sale = £136m ($213m)Christie’s London Imp/Mod, Surrealism Eve Sale = £136m ($213m)
  • Thiebaud Goes Global but Stays LocalThiebaud Goes Global but Stays Local
  • The Old Master Market Is Soft, But Not This SoftThe Old Master Market Is Soft, But Not This Soft
  • Estimates Keep the Imp-Mod Market in Check at Christie’s London Evening SaleEstimates Keep the Imp-Mod Market in Check at Christie’s London Evening Sale

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor
 

Loading Comments...