There is a country in the Pacific Ocean — a group of coral atolls straddling the equator — that couldn’t have bought Picasso’s “Boy with a Pipe” even if it wanted to. The painting sold at auction last week for $104 million. Kiribati, the country in question, has an annual GDP that falls far short of that amount. And if the people of Kiribati hope to see the garland-crowned boy in blue, they’re out of luck. For that matter, so are the rest of us. Because the Picasso painting, like so many master works that land in private hands, will likely never be seen again.
As New York’s spring auction season draws to a close, and as paintings vanish into private collections, we consider who really pays when the priceless goes to the privileged.
Guests:
Nicholas Wapshott, North America correspondent and U.S. bureau chief, The Times of London
Greg Hubert, owner, The Hubert Gallery, New York City
Charlie Finch, columnist with artnet.com and founder of the Coagula Art Journal