Do prices determine good art? by James Curran

Dave Hickey points out that there are some people who love art more then money, he goes on to say that there are also some artists who love money more then art. There is a recent phenomenom that modern art is selling for insanely high prices. This trend has started to influence how people view art. Outsiders loking into the art world assume that because it is expensive it is the pinnacle of art. Artists such as Damien Hirst and Giacometti recently each sold a peice of art for over 100 million pounds. Prices such as these have set the bar for what other peices by these artists have been established as. Following this line of thinking collectors are now paying for the name rather then the art itself. This trend can be easily be compared fashion. Today most people pay more money based on a name brand then on the quality of clothing. The art world is on a slippery slope and it will take a lot for this period to change. Change of this magnitude will require art collectors to stop paying such absurd prices for art. After this is accomplished people will be able to go back to appreciating art for art, not for how much money someone paid for it.