is reverence for the patron.

Whatever blue-chip artists or their estates might say about their art and its place in the world, the people who experience that work are involuntary creators of the actual product of blue-chip art.

They’re pawns. Serfs. They may believe they’re being informed or energized or even inspired by the artist and the art. But, first and foremost, they’re being flattered, manipulated, and pumped.

When a patron buys such an artwork and then positions it in a public place or a museum, the product the patron pays for is reverence and esteem for themselves.

The kind they get from serfs like you and me is a bulk commodity, like rice, or septic sand. Its value is low and accrues slowly or, rarely, in fits of fashion, but never rises above ankle-depth.

The reverence and esteem blue-chip patrons value most comes from the wealthy and powerful in their league and higher. It arrives in old, dusty barrels, in shiny bricks, and in high offices.

Most fine-arts institutions exist solely as conduits for this precious commodity. To these institutions, you and I are nothing more than a write-off.