Mary Scriver delightfully dissects the house organs of the Industrial Cowboy Art Cartel.
So now back to the newer ‘zines. Western Art Collector is a frank guide to the Industrial Cowboy Art Cartel. Same familiar ads, same subject matter, but now more than ever like a race horse guide. What auctions are coming, what artists are promising, and -- most important -- constant attention to the prices: the estimated worth, the auction total, the rate of increase over the years of an artist’s career. Lots of “society” photos of customers and dealers partying in their fancy dress, champagne glasses in hand as they celebrate snatching a “masterpiece” from the jaws of some other white-haired matron who offered them five figure checks to give it up because it is her “heart’s desire.”
Read the whole thing. She has been doing some more critical work in the field as well: a biography/memoir of Western artist Bob Scriver, to whom she was married, and comments on the issue of artistic legacy as well.
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