Snake-oil salesmen

If we judge the art world honchos- the reviewers , the critics, the art theorists, many art dealers - by the same standards that a person selling a product or a service is judged, then most of the art world elites would be behind bars for selling or recommending shoddy products(Picasso's and Husain's) , having exploitative profit margins, making exaggerated and utterly untrue claims (false advertising) about quality("Mr.Khanna is a great artist") and (this, I think, is the greatest infraction) boring us to death with their soporific mumbo-jumbo("He assumes the position of the narrator or katha vachak, looking outward to the other rather than the self. The central image then is of the artist as commentator, who through painted gesture and
narrative seems to set up threads of connectivity
."). They would have the same status as of conmen, petty thieves and snake- oil salesmen.

But art , we are told, is different. Normal rules do not apply. You must suspend any rational thought before you take a plunge in these (murky) waters. You must not believe what you see. You must believe what they tell you, or else you will be taken as a country bumpkin or worse- a right-wing reactionary if not an outright fascist
.
You must say a Hail Husain! or be considered an infidel.
Go ahead, say your Hail Husain!'s here.

Related post -Ms. Narayan, please, please, please do tell us - what makes this a masterpiece?

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