Changing Tastes
LEONARDO DA VINCI
Ginevra de' Benci
c. 1474
oil on panel
15 x 15"
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Yesterday was such a beatuiful day and I couldn't imagine why there wasn't any traffic as I drove out to Christopher and Todd's for brunch, hahaha of course I knew why, it was Super Bowl Sunday, the straight equivalent of the Oscars as Christopher calls it. Even our FedEx person had reminded me during the week. "I am a HUGE Madonna fan," she explained. Had I stocked up on Buffalo Wings, a friend who never asks about these things wanted to know on Saturday. Apparently Buffalo Wings are a staple at Super Bowl gatherings.
When I started working in the art business, the highest price ever paid for a painting was 5 million dollars, for Leonardo's portrait of Ginevra de' Benci which had been acquired in 1967 for the National Gallery. I think it is still the only Leonardo in America (citation needed), and it held the world record until 1987 when Van Gogh's Sunflowers sold for around 25 million pounds. Now the news has come out that the royal family of Qatar has paid 250 million dollars for a Cézanne.
"Is it a very nice Cézanne?" I ask.
"Iconic," my friend Jonathan who is an artist and knows about these things explains.
"Well, I don't expect we'll ever get to see it now," I observe, a little sadly. I realize I should make a trip to see his lovely Château Noir (1904) at the National Gallery, and then I could visit the Leonardo too.
"Look at it this way," my friend Justin says. "The Oak Room at the Algonquin is closing to become a 'lounge' for Marriott Reward Members, the Super Bowl is the biggest cultural event of the year, Kim Kardashian wants to start a bible study group with her friends, and Snooki announces on television that she somehow got a urinary tract infection from anal sex. Now ask yourself if America really deserves another Cézanne."
It did seem as though something has changed in the country. A profound shift in taste or sensibility, from Leonardo to Jersey Shore. Someone asked if they had Walmarts in Qatar. Someone else asked if there were any Buffalo Wings.
To answer your question, there are no WalMarts in Qatar, but there is a nice Marks & Spencer. I don't know about Buffalo chicken wings, but there is an Applebee's (spelling?). When the local Hermès can provide you with a beautiful black silk burqa, why look for a synthetic one at WalMart?
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Perhaps instead of buffalo wings they do a lovely chicken skewer or kebab?
And you are absolutely right to go with natural fibers.
Synthetic simply doesn't breathe in the desert.
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Greetings George,
Your laments over the state of the world remind me of Yeats "Second Coming" and that sad section of Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" where Charles Rider enters the ship for a voyage back to England. Waugh writes: "I turned into some of the halls of the ship, which were huge without any splendor, as though they had been designed for a railway coach and preposterously magnified. I passed through vast bronze gates whose ornament was like the trade mark of a cake of soap which had been used once or twice; I trod carpets the colour of blotting paper . . ."
And on goes Waugh. We are not alone in our laments over our failures and disappointments.
Thank you for your writing.
David
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Dear David,
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That's the last straw!
Meet us at the St Regis.
No more Algonquin for us then.
Sigh.
We don't believe in Rewards cards.
They only get a girl into trouble. Or overly expensive outfits.
Adore you.
See you Very Soon.
_TG xx
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