There used to be quite a debate as to whether, or not, tattooing was a viable art form. Every once in a while the debate will still come up. Now for myself the answer to that question has always been YES. Tattooing and tattoos are, and have always been, a viable art form. Just as important as any artsy fartsy painting that hangs in a gallery, or in some stuffy museum.
To quite a few art snobs the argument had always been that “legitimate” art was justified by the high price set upon it by art collectors. To be honest after seeing a TV special about an artist who was commanding an average of $15,000 dollars a painting, then learning that the “artist” was a raccoon, I have to wonder about the state of what is considered “real art”. I’m pretty sure no tattoo collector in their right mind would let a raccoon do a back piece for them.
Well, settle down kiddies. It seems that old rule of thumb about “real art” fetching mega-bucks from an art collector has taken a major hit!
Swiss born Tim Steiner has had a German art collector at a Zurich gallery pay a grand sum of $219,000 for his back piece of the Virgin Mary.
According to the gallery owner, Jutta Nexdorf, the deal is for Steiner to allow the work to be shown at least three times a year, and the buyer has the right to remove the skin from his back upon his death.
The tattoo is a full back piece done in 35-hours, and is an original creation of Belgian artist Wim Delvove, who is known for his depictions of the Virgin Mary with a lifeless skull in place of her usual serene countenance.
According to the agreement the un-named art collector also has the right to sell the piece later, if he so wishes.
Now if that doesn’t settle the argument, I don’t know what will. Say what you like about tattooing, but one thing is for certain. No raccoon, chimpanzee, or elephant is ever going to make our kind of art and have it sell for those kinds of dollars. Unlike some of that snobbish stuff that hangs on the walls of the galleries and museums, (Where ‘ol Tim may wind up yet, anyway.).
That should give a lot of collectors a reason to take better care of their art. You never know, there just might be gold in that thar skin. 😉
Have fun, gang.