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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;mirana, post: 9584519, member: 79705&quot;]In short: Yes. There are a few documentaries out there about the Art Market bubble but essentially the Ultra Rich try to control the market like they do Wall Street, Real Estate, etc. Dealers pick up-and-comer favorites. They&#039;re friendly with the critics. They market to their Ultra Rich clients that a certain artist is a good &quot;investment&quot; in every sense of that word. Art at that level is like stocks.</p><p><br /></p><p>And if none of that works how they want, they rig the game and buy their own artwork as a shill. My favorite is Damien Hurst&#039;s &quot;For the Love of God&quot; diamond encrusted skull. <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/damien-hirst-skull-storage-2064567" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/damien-hirst-skull-storage-2064567" rel="nofollow">Allegedly went for 100 million, and it was all a lie.</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Yes. Agents pick what they think will sell to the market, pay for good reviews, pay for Oprah&#039;s Book Club or whatever friendly face their genre loves.</p><p><br /></p><p>And if that doesn&#039;t work, they buy thousands of their own books through book stores to make it on the NYT Bestseller lists. Literally call individual stores to order ridiculous amounts. This happens frequently enough (especially with certain political figures and self-help types) that the NYT will put a dagger icon next to books they think have suspect numbers. What happens to the books? They get given away in promos, convention/speaking engagement swag, and donated. The books were never the end goal...the looking successful and getting that TV gig or speaking engagement and fanbase, etc. pays better.</p><p><br /></p><p>It also happens with movie deals. &quot;Cowboys vs Aliens&quot; was made because the production company thought it was a bestselling comic book and thus would have a built in audience. Turns out the comic creator never made it into a widely available book until the deal was in motion and then did the NYT trick and bought their own books to make it look legit.</p><p><br /></p><p>Any industry that makes money has the Ultra Rich trying to control the system so they can pick the winners and ride the wave.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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