Have you ever wondered why bad art sells for millions? You’ve probably also wondered how society reached this point. First, let’s look at the events leading up to this phenomenon.
These are my notes from the seventh lecture of the Commerce and Culture podcast.
Totalitarianism and the Arts in the 20th Century
- Modernism flourished under fascist regimes
- Modernists turned to the state for employment
- Fascist regimes wanted to be seen as modern and legitimate in the eyes of their subjects
- So they embraced everything modern like technology
- Modernists, Nazis, and communists had dreams of remaking the world into a utopia
- The Nazis, Soviets, and New Deal America commissioned traditional, realism art propaganda of young people working in factories or farms
- Everyone turned to the government to solve their problems
How Bad Art Appeared on the Market
- The American art market embraced abstract art and other art movements that rejected traditional styles, like dadaism
- Nazi and communist art promoted realism
- Realism had negative associations with totalitarianism
- Hitler despised abstract art, dadaism, anything non-traditional and preferred neoclassicism
- He blamed the Jews for marketing degenerate art
- The American reaction against traditional styles of art like neoclassicism and realistic art was irrational
- “If you paint or collect traditional art then you must be a Nazi sympathizer!” “Everything that comes from the Nazis is bad!” This sort of thinking is an emotional fallacy and genetic fallacy
- Bad art sells because of these historical ripple effects
- Crappy, outrageous art was backed by philosophical jargon and people bought into it