Art can be appreciated for its aesthetic appeal, its role in history, for the moral tale it preaches or age-old immorality it reveals. Or art can be viewed as an object of commerce. Steve Martin gives us a clear picture of the value of art in a story that shows a painting to be much more than merely “An Object of Beauty.”
Steve Martin, yes, that “wild and crazy guy,” takes us on a wild ride through the roller-coaster fluctuations of the art market over the last two decades. But don’t worry, Martin hasn’t lost his humor, and this is far from a dry economics recitation. Instead it is a rollicking romp through the rise and fall of one fictional art-world denizen.
Lacey Yeager is a ravishing art sylph, one of a group of recent college graduates determined to make it in the glam world of the Big Apple. Her sometimes confidante Daniel Franks aspires to be an art critic and serves as the ostensible narrator of her story.
Lacey wiles her way into a coveted low-level job at the venerable Sotheby’s auction house. There she drudges away in the basement while scheming her way to the top. With a sharp eye and a quick mind, and of course those head-turning looks, she is able to claw her way upward, stepping on many toes and proving herself open to underhanded deals.
Lacey’s character is over-the-top, and the attention to her perfectly turned physique, not to mention her penchant for falling into bed with any man who has the power to assist her, bastardizes the meaning of the book’s title. But, as the classic erotic heroine we love to hate, she keeps the story lively, and she makes art into an aphrodisiac.
When forced to leave Sotheby’s due to questionable auction dealings, she is welcomed into the molding hands of mentor Barton Talley, the owner of an exclusive uptown gallery with a select clientele and even more selective back-room dealings. Under his employ, Lacey gains access (above and below the sheets) to his valued client, the Parisian Patrice Claire. From Patrice, Lacey gets a true education, which she uses to launch a downtown gallery.
Opened at a time when older works were unattainable, Lacey opts to represent “young artists,” her peers whose values were skyrocketing at this time. She floats among reputably snobbish champagne-toting, incomprehensible art-lingo babbling collectors, dealers, kiss-ups and hangers-on.
It is by their side that she nearly weathers the bubble blowing and bursting from the high-flying late 1990s to the despondent post-9/11 market to the aftershock of patriotic spending and then the eventual burst that coincided with the stock market and real estate crashes of a few years ago. And we are privy to it all as we tag along on her outlandish adventures.
As the author of this book, Martin does not play the funny man of his stand-up days. This instead is the Renaissance man and art-world connoisseur he’s proven himself to be. His comfort and familiarity with the art world is apparent, as are his strong opinions (most notably his disdain for self-aggrandizing pop artists and their latter-day emerging artist progeny).
His book is funny at times, but it is certainly not fully comic – a fact that dismayed many audience members at a recent book talk he gave at New York City’s 92nd Street Y (resulting in many demanding a ticket refund) who claimed his material was dull.
But this book is anything but dull. It is, in fact, incredibly fun. While the characters and their exploits may be a bit hyperbolic, they can certainly find compatriots in the true art world. And all of this reinforces the book’s overriding idea, that a work of art is much more than simply “An Object of Beauty.”
Adera Causey is curator of education at the Hunter Museum of American Art.