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Adam Ruins Everything - How the Fine Art Market is a Scam | truTV - YouTube
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[1]
It just sold for 5 billion.
[4]
Of course it did.
[4]
It's brilliant.
[9]
Oh, it's performance art!
[11]
These rich snobs don't know
more about art than you.
[14]
They're mostly just here
to make money.
[16]
Oh!
[17]
We're told that art like this
is so expensive
[19]
because it's the best
in the world.
[21]
But the fact is, you're looking
at a massive price-fixing scheme
[24]
that benefits wealthy collectors
and excludes artists like you.
[28]
Adam, shush it!
[30]
The prices here are high
because the art
is objectively good.
[33]
Nope. The prices are
high because
[35]
a small group of galleries and
collectors decided it was good,
[38]
and once they do that,
[40]
the price goes up, whether or
not anyone else agrees.
[42]
You. Paint something.
[50]
(gasps)
[53]
I declare this valuable art.
[56]
Go find more cubed meat.
[59]
We're gonna be rich.
[61]
(chuckles)
[62]
Well, outsider art
is a rich tradition.
[65]
How much is this worth?
[66]
There's no way to tell.
[68]
Big galleries actually keep
their prices a secret
[70]
so they can change them
depending on who the buyer is.
[74]
For you, my friend,
ten grand,
[76]
and for you, my enemy,
200 grand.
[78]
And they do their best
to keep out buyers
[81]
who are considered elites.
[83]
Daniel Radcliffe once tried to
buy a fancy painting,
[85]
but he was denied when the
[85]
dealer told him
[87]
he was waiting for a more
[87]
prestigious collector.
[90]
For you?
Not for sale.
[92]
Please, sir.
[94]
I just want one painting that
doesn't talk to me.
[96]
Why are you doing this to me?
[97]
Because if the gallery only
sells to art world elites,
[101]
they'll be seen as a better
brand,
[102]
which means all of their other
paintings will be worth more.
[106]
Ah.
[107]
(cash registers dinging)
[109]
Hmm. That is shady behavior.
[111]
Well, luckily, we outsiders
could just go to art auctions.
[114]
They're democratic open markets
where anyone can buy.
[116]
Sorry, but the major
auction houses
[118]
are just as rigged
as the galleries.
[120]
(pounds gavel)
[121]
Auctions play all sorts of dirty
tricks to drive their prices up,
[124]
like straight up
paying people to bid.
[127]
Let's start the bidding
at $4 million.
[128]
Do I see 4 million?
[128]
(snoring)
[133]
4 million.
[134]
And if the bidding
is too slow,
[136]
auctioneers even use a practice
called chandelier bidding.
[139]
They just point to a random spot
above everyone's heads
[141]
and pretend to see a bid.
[144]
And I see 5 million from
the bidder in the back,
[146]
she's my girlfriend
who you don't know
'cause she lives in Canada.
[148]
Whoop, she's back across the
border, so don't turn around.
[151]
Oh, whatever.
Six million.
[153]
Why are you okay with this?
[154]
Oh, simple, darling.
[156]
I own other paintings
by this artist,
[158]
so when this one sells high,
[160]
it increases the value
of my entire collection.
[164]
Sometimes we even bid
anonymously
[166]
to drive up the price.
[168]
Up next, we have a fine
comdiment-based work
[170]
from an emerging artist.
[171]
Ooh!
[172]
I want to bid on this one.
[175]
We should all bid on this one.
[177]
Let's start the bidding
at $7 million.
[182]
This shady market can also be
manipulated by crooks who use it
[185]
to defraud the government
and launder dirty money.
[187]
Hello.
[189]
I would like to buy a painting
from your fine gallery
[191]
using legitimate cash moneys.
[193]
The red is... paint.
[197]
But not all collectors
are crooks.
[200]
I mean, there's good people
out there
[201]
who donate their collections
to museums.
[203]
Sure, and that seems
very charitable,
[206]
until you remember that
that donation is also
a tax write-off.
[209]
And here's where it can
get really shady.
[211]
The collectors hire
their own appraisers
[213]
to determine the value of
the art they donate,
[216]
so they can use it as
one big tax dodge.
[219]
You owe 40 million
in taxes this year.
[223]
Ugh!
[224]
What if I donate this painting
worth 40 million?
[231]
At the end of the day, this is
what the fine art market is.
[234]
A few rich people
passing money around.
[241]
No! No! Then I want
no part of this!
[244]
Screw this gallery
and screw this opening!
[246]
I will make it in
the fine art world on my own.
[250]
Sorry, that's not really
how it works.
[252]
Persephone,
this is Allison Schrager.
[254]
She's an economist and
journalist at Quartz
[256]
who has reported on
the fine art market.
[258]
Not only is the fine art world
manipulated financially,
[261]
it's also extremely exclusive.
[263]
Only a small share of artists
are allowed to succeed
[265]
and only their work is
considered valuable.
[266]
And those aren't necessarily
the best artists.
[269]
Often, they're just the ones
who are best at
[271]
marketing themselves and at
playing the gallery game.
[274]
One art dealer I spoke
with even admitted
[276]
that the art you buy
in the street
[277]
is cheaper and often
just as good,
[280]
it's just not as prestigious,
[281]
so big collectors in museums
just aren't interested in it.
[284]
And that means this small group
of ultra wealthy investors
[287]
ends up defining
what fine art is.
[290]
So the fine art world
is all a lie,
[294]
and it's all about money
[296]
and who gets into this
stupid snobby club?
[299]
More or less.
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