“The metabolism of the contemporary art market has learned a lot from the ‘specullecting’ practices — part collecting, larger part financial speculation — of entrepreneurs like Charles Saatchi, the advertising mogul who was so immensely successful at insinuating the values and methods of celebrity advertising into the world of contemporary art. First, find some unknown young artists who produce items of nugatory aesthetic but substantial shock value; buy their wares for a song; then open your own museum to exhibit them and devote your immense skills as a PR specialist to talking them up. Presto: huge profits, some of which can be reinvested in next year’s crop of enfants terribles.”
– from an article in The New Criterion entitled “The Art Market Bubble”