The New Criterion

The recent meltdown of Salander O’Reilly Galleries in New York provided many lessons for the audience in the art world and beyond. Some of the lessons were moral, others financial. Even psychiatry played a part. James Panero detailed most of them in his excellent article on the subject that appeared in New York magazine on March 24. What emerged was a sobering parable on the folly of trying to impose one’s will on a segment of the art market. What we learned is that no amount of talent, money, or sheer hubris—and Larry Salander had a surfeit of all three—was able to translate his efforts into a viable business. Throw in a bit of questionable bookkeeping, plus copious professional insouciance, and the result was inevitable: utter failure, to be topped, perhaps, by an eventual criminal indictment.

There is, however, a further consideration that comes to mind on re-reading some of the statements made by ...

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