The document discusses how the modern art world has become a game for wealthy individuals like Russian oligarchs and Middle Eastern royalty to launder money and invest for high stakes, referencing art scandals involving the subprime mortgage crisis, Ponzi schemes, and the contemporary Chinese art scene. The author, an artist who has served on museum acquisition committees, aims to give voice to serious young artists struggling in an art world that only values marketing and branding talent over artistic merit.

1. art washes away the dust of everyday life.
What did Picasso mean? Is it still relevant when a black on black painting sells at auction
in the tens of millions of dollars. What are the events leading up to that painting hanging
in a museum. How did the artist convince someone it was art?
This is a new art game, powered by Russian oligarchs, hedge fund owners, money
laundering drug cartels, and midleeasten shieks who are playing for the high stakes,
On one level, Ponzi and Picasso is the back story to many of the art scandals you have
read in the nytimes: how the sub prime mortage crisis impacted the art world, about a
private equity art fund that became a ponzi scheme,the auction house's complicity and
the underbelly of the Beijing contemporary art scene.
Because I am an artist and have been on many museum acquisition committess, I have an
insiders view of the back door comings and goings.
I wanted to give voice to the young serious artist who deal with an art world that only
values marketing and branding talents for a successful career.
What I discovered during writing.