# Steve Mnuchin's dad pays record $91M for a Koons. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 16, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059 "2019-05-16T15:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/1 "2019-05-16T15:16:21Z")
[Steve Mnuchin’s Dad Buys Jeff Koons ‘Rabbit’ Sculpture for Record $91M.](http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/steve-mnuchin-jeff-koons-rabbit-sculpture-record) This is really a MPSIMS post, but apparently you’re not supposed to post politically tinged stuff there so… Does anyone else see the irony in a story wherein the man who just paid a record price at auction for a Pottery Barn-worthy sculpture created by the king of artistic style over substance, just happens to be the father of the man working for the political king of style over substance, whose job requires he be the most fiscally prudent man in America? Yeah, me neither - because it’s just minnow in an ocean of extant irony, and the truth is he’ll probably make a fortune selling it to the next sucker. Nevertheless, where’s Tom Wolfe when you need him? ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/2 "2019-05-16T15:41:59Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > [Steve Mnuchin’s Dad Buys Jeff Koons ‘Rabbit’ Sculpture for Record $91M.](http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/steve-mnuchin-jeff-koons-rabbit-sculpture-record) > > This is really a MPSIMS post, but apparently you’re not supposed to post politically tinged stuff there so… > > Does anyone else see the irony in a story wherein the man who just paid a record price at auction for a Pottery Barn-worthy sculpture created by the king of artistic style over substance, just happens to be the father of the man working for the political king of style over substance, whose job requires he be the most fiscally prudent man in America? Yeah, me neither - because it’s just minnow in an ocean of extant irony, and the truth is he’ll probably make a fortune selling it to the next sucker. Nevertheless, where’s Tom Wolfe when you need him? For what it’s worth, I know him and his wife. They are Democrats, they strongly dislike Trump and their son’s job has caused a lot of friction within the family. I know this because they told me. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/3 "2019-05-16T16:08:00Z")
All art is a triumph of style over substance. That’s kind of the point. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/4 "2019-05-16T20:31:07Z")
According to NPR, he wasn’t buying it for himself but on behalf of a client. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/5 "2019-05-16T23:20:31Z")
Hey, that’s the job _I_ want! “My client is interested in purchasing that dopey-looking little sculpture in the corner. Whaddaya say to ninety-one million simoleons? Great. Can ya wrap it for me?” Yeah, I think I could handle that job. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/6 "2019-05-16T23:47:18Z")
It looks like it gets stolen in the upcoming movie [Lying and Stealing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKXa10VDQj4&t). ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/7 "2019-05-16T23:53:50Z")
It’s his job. He owns an art gallery and buys things for clients. The whole family has a thing about taking their money and using it to fund a second career doing something they love. Hence Junior and his movie producer career. That wife of his is a big part of the problem. FYI, I’m mentioning this because of the circumstances in which I met them ( the parents) and they told me this stuff. It was pretty clear they wanted this information disseminated. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/8 "2019-05-17T00:06:19Z")
I like the Colbert show’s description of Steve Mnuchin: “the guy in a Disney movie who says ‘Arrest that dog!’” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/9 "2019-05-17T05:37:06Z")
But a painting _of_ Steve Mnuchin, though - that would also rake in the $$$. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/10 "2019-05-17T14:41:26Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Hey, that’s the job _I_ want! > > “My client is interested in purchasing that dopey-looking little sculpture in the corner. Whaddaya say to ninety-one million simoleons? Great. Can ya wrap it for me?” > > Yeah, I think I could handle that job. There’s a bit more to it than that. If he’s buying it for a client, he’s warranting that it is authentic and arranging for shipment and so forth. So he could be out $91 million on the transaction himself if it goes wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/11 "2019-05-17T15:33:49Z")
I think the art dealer also offers advice to the buyer what is worth buying. To me, this Jeff Koons sculpture looks kitschy and not at all worth that kind of money. But I assume the dealer assured the buyer that the piece was worth this much and would be worth more in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/12 "2019-05-17T16:23:51Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > But I assume the dealer assured the buyer that the piece was worth this much and would be worth more in the future. I’ve read quite a few articles about how the market for “fine” art is just a total self-perpetuating fraud. I don’t usually go in for these types of grand pronouncements, but I really think there’s something to this. As one art critic described it: > [@](#): > > ULABY: But these days, Saltz thinks of Koons’s work as basically a status symbol for a handful of billionaires. > > SALTZ: I buy my Jeff Koons, then you buy yours for higher. Then I get to sell mine for a little bit more. It’s a self-replicating, non-thinking organism like buying a Maserati. > **[Jeff Koons 'Rabbit' Sets Record For Most Expensive Work By Living Artist](https://www.npr.org/2019/05/16/724089811/jeff-koons-rabbit-sets-record-for-most-expensive-work-by-living-artist)** > > A 3-foot-tall silver bunny, created by Jeff Koons in 1986, sold at an auction for $91 million Wednesday night at Christie's in New York City, making Koons the world's most expensive living artist. So yeah, the buyer can sell it for more later, because we’re talking about a market that is closer to a Ponzi scheme than a sobering evaluation of the value of exquisite art. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/13 "2019-05-17T17:30:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > There’s a bit more to it than that. If he’s buying it for a client, he’s warranting that it is authentic and arranging for shipment and so forth. So he could be out $91 million on the transaction himself if it goes wrong. 1. Look on the bottom and see if it was signed by Jeff Koons. 2. Phone UPS. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/14 "2019-05-17T17:49:51Z")
I couldn’t tell fine art sculpture from a cast concrete dog available at the farm store near me. But if that rabbit sculpture had a smaller, hand held version, it would have a plastic base with one of those spring loaded dealies that you press to move the sculpture’s limbs. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/15 "2019-05-17T20:39:40Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I’ve read quite a few articles about how the market for “fine” art is just a total self-perpetuating fraud. I don’t usually go in for these types of grand pronouncements, but I really think there’s something to this. As one art critic described it: > [Jeff Koons 'Rabbit' Sets Record For Most Expensive Work By Living Artist : NPR](https://www.npr.org/2019/05/16/724089811/jeff-koons-rabbit-sets-record-for-most-expensive-work-by-living-artist) > > > [@](#): > > > > ULABY: But these days, Saltz thinks of Koons’s work as basically a status symbol for a handful of billionaires. > > > > SALTZ: I buy my Jeff Koons, then you buy yours for higher. Then I get to sell mine for a little bit more. It’s a self-replicating, non-thinking organism like buying a Maserati. > > So yeah, the buyer can sell it for more later, because we’re talking about a market that is closer to a Ponzi scheme than a sobering evaluation of the value of exquisite art. Not that much different than various hot stocks. In theory there is some intrinsic value to a share of stock based on the companies earnings, but I think a lot of it is just as more money goes into the market, things go up (inflation or something like it). And, yeah, I’ve got my retirement in the stock market casino/Ponzi scheme, just like everyone else. Heck, at least that sculpture could be used as a paper weight or (in a pinch) weapon. My electronically recorded stock isn’t even a piece of art and/or toilet paper. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/16 "2019-05-17T20:51:25Z")
For that kind of cash I certainly hope the batteries were included. The Terminator Bunny… ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/17 "2019-05-18T00:49:12Z")
That sculpture is 3 feet tall and made of stainless steel. You use it for a paperweight, it better be something you don’t need in a hurry. Or ever again. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/18 "2019-05-18T14:45:25Z")
Here’s Koons in a Christie’s marketing video with another art douche talking about his One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank. Tell me this isn’t the biggest crock of shit you’ve ever heard. Mind you, i like a lot of conceptual artists so this isn’t a wholesale claim that they’re all frauds ( hell even Hirst has done some interesting things), but Koons is just a charlatan. I love how he says “how important inflatables are” to him. No wonder he’s obsessed with something full of air. > **[‘One of the most influential works in the history of contemporary art’ |...](https://www.christies.com/features/Jeff-Koons-One-Ball-Total-Equilibrium-Tank-7307-3.aspx)** > > Jeff Koons and curator Jeffrey Deitch discuss One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/19 "2019-05-18T14:52:01Z")
So, Stevie comes from money? Gee, you’d never know that from his easy-going, egalitarian, down-to-Earth style. Keep your distance. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059/20 "2019-05-18T15:29:09Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > For what it’s worth, I know him and his wife. They are Democrats, they strongly dislike Trump and their son’s job has caused a lot of friction within the family. I know this because they told me. Thanks, that’s interesting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-mnuchins-dad-pays-record-91m-for-a-koons/834059.md?page=2)