Chop Suey and the Pool With Two Figures

May 28, 2023

I buy art like others buy blankets to keep them warm on a freezing night.  If it gets too cold, I could burn the painting for warmth—an excellent mental and physical health investment.  I went to a poster shop in Westwood where they sell 20th-century prints of famous paintings. Here, I purchased a print of Caravaggio's The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, painted initially sometime between 1601-1602, but the reprint was made in 2004.  

The shop owner there at the time, Mr. Gagosian, had a wide selection of prints to buy or even rent if one was on a budget.   I was taught at an early age never to rent or borrow, and to purchase is the best policy.  Mr. Gagosian asked me what I was looking for. I told him that I wanted something that expressed the angst and worries of this sad century but also something colorful to match the interiors of my living room.   He asked me what my budget was, and I told him not to be concerned about budgeting and that I was going to the boundaries of $50 to $100. 

He showed me a print of a painting by Edward Hopper called Chop Suey.   It's a lovely figurative painting of two women having a meal or chatting over a table, and there is a man and woman in conversation on the side of the painting.  The one thing that I found troublesome about the painting is the title.  "Chop Suey."  I didn't think the interior of the restaurant looked oriental.   And the other thing that bugs me is that one can see the signage outside the building saying 'Suey." Or to be exact, we can see the letters "U" and "E" clearly, but we have to presume that half of the "S" Is actually an "S."  And the "Y' could easily be a "V" in this painting.   I don't know why I'm focusing on the lettering of the side of the building, or perhaps what is a neon light - or even if the painting takes place in the evening.  The more I look at this painting I find it disturbing.  I asked Mr. Gagosian for a discount due to the upsetting composition of the work.   It was initially $100, but I got it knocked down to $90.  

The other painting that caught my eye is a work by David Hockney, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures).  I prefer if the artwork is called Pool with Two Figures.  I don't think we need the word artist in the title. Since it's a painting by an artist, why put a focus on the artist again?  It's a colorful painting of a young man dressed nicely, looking at another young man in a swimming pool.    At first, I thought the man in the pool had drowned, and we were looking at a floating body.  But I think the artist would have called the painting  Pool with a Dead Figure and Young Man or something of that order.  Still, I love the mountain range in the picture, and the composition is excellent. Worth the $100, but then Mr. Gagosian told me that this print would be $150.  To my surprise, he wouldn't go down from that price.  I immediately left the store, thinking he would stop me.  I turned around the corner, and again, to my surprise, he didn't run after me. I then walked back into his shop, and he knew I would pay $150.   

Nevertheless, I can bring two decent paintings back to my home for a total of $240 (plus sales tax).   I learned that one should never fret over art prices, and to do so will make you look or sound cheap.  The worth of art is something beyond currency.  However, the money of a Monopoly game does look good.