James Tarmy has a clever story looking at Ivanka Trump’s art collection through her Instagram feed. He then connects with some of the artists, dealers, curators and advisors who have become skeptical of the value of having their work associated with the ambitious Ms. Trump:
In one post, Trump shimmies in front of a Dan Colen “chewing gum” painting; a comparable work sold for $578,500 at Phillips New York in 2012. In another post, Trump’s child plays the piano in front of a “bullet hole” silkscreen by Nate Lowman; a bullet-hole painting in the same palette sold for $665,000 in 2013 at Sotheby’s in New York. In yet another post, taken from a Harper’s Bazaar shoot, Trump poses at her dining table in front of a work by Alex Israel. A similar painting by Israel sold for $581,000 in 2014 at Phillips New York.
There are more than a dozen works on view in Trump’s apartment, including a series of prints by conceptual artist John Baldessari, a massive work by art-market juggernaut Christopher Wool, a small piece by the up-and-coming artist Will Boone, prints by photographer Mariah Robertson, and a small, colorful abstract painting by the young art-world star Alex Da Corte. Much of Trump’s art, dealers said, was purchased with the assistance of adviser Alex Marshall. Many wealthy, aspiring collectors employ art advisers (Marshall’s mother, Patricia, is one of the most powerful in the world), not only for recommendations about what to buy, but because those advisers have access to work that would be unavailable to art-world outsiders. Both Marshall and Trump did not respond to requests for comment.
What’s in Ivanka Trump’s Art Collection, and What Is It Worth? (Bloomberg)