Cognitive Dysfunction Displayed In Fraudulent Analogy

City Council Agenda
Regular Meeting
November 7, 2006

XI. Orders of Council
A. Review issues related to the historic preservation program and provide policy direction.

Mayor Sue McCloud: “I would like to just put a caveat. In the world of art, there is a established pattern about the early works, late works, best works and I hate to see art be an expression that we put a cap on, you know, there has to be some latitude but it is and I agree that, you know, 100 Murphys, there has to be, one of your worst investments you can make in art is just to have, you know, to buy a Van Gogh, to have a Van Gogh, if it’s the poorest example, it’s really not probably the type of thing that you should be purchasing if you’re looking at it for an investment. So I think somewhere along the line we need to preserve the best, the best, and not make excuses of things that have some big adjustments made to them over a period, you know, a facelift that didn’t work, let’s put it that way. So, but I wouldn’t want to see us put numerical caps on it because we might discover something that later on tells us that really was a Frank Lloyd Wright house, we thought it was a Henry Hill, but it’s Frank Lloyd Wright.”

COMMENTS:

Another digressive, rambling monologue. Another fraudulent analogy. Another example of a Sue McCloud opinion not based in fact or reality.

Facts:
• Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

• van Gogh produced all of his work, some 864 paintings and 1340 drawings, sketches and watercolors, during the last ten years of his life.
(Source: http://www.vggallery.com/painting/main_az.htm)

• Since his death in 1890, van Gogh has been acknowledged as a pioneer of what came to be known as Expressionism and has had an enormous influence on 20th century art.

• “Like a consumer product, works of art are subject to the laws of the marketplace: prices are governed by the law of supply and demand, as with any other luxury good in high demand because of its rarity.”
(Reference: http://cybermuse.beaux-arts.ca/cybermuse/docs/htmldoc_3304_e.jsp)

• Record Prices for Vincent van Gogh’s Paintings, as follows:
1. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh
Sold for $82.5 million on May 15, 1990 at Christie's, New York

2. Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe by Vincent van Gogh
Sold for $65 million on Nov 19, 1998 at Christie's, New York

3. A Wheatfield, with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh
Sold for $57 million in 1993 in a private sale, via Steven Mazoh & Co., Inc., Rhinebeck, New York

4. Irises by Vincent van Gogh
Sold for $53.9 million on Nov 11, 1987 at Sotheby's, New York.

5. Peasant Woman Against a Background of Wheat by Vincent van Gogh
Sold for $47.5 million on Oct 7, 2005 by Stephen Wynn to Steven A. Cohen in a private sale via Acquavella Galleries Inc., New York

• Due to Vincent van Gogh’s “iconic” status, and only 864 extant paintings, by definition “rarities,” van Gogh paintings are some of the “world’s best known, most popular and most expensive pieces.”
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh)

• “...one of your worst investments you can make in art is just to have, you know, to buy a Van Gogh, to have a Van Gogh, if it’s the poorest example, it’s really not probably the type of think that you should be purchasing if you’re looking at it for an investment.” (Mayor Sue McCloud)
Based on her opinion, it would not be in anyone’s interest to consult Mayor McCloud about van Gogh paintings, art as an investment, et cetera.