Rake’s Progress: last week in gossip

Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art and museum stories.

There has been much hand wringing over the consequences that 2016’s political shocks might have for the art market. Though the Rake must admit to being none the wiser, he has noticed one unexpected beneficiary of the Brexit vote. Sam Knight’s recent piece on Nigel Farage for the New Yorker provided some fascinating insights into the former UKIP leader, not least his appreciation of art history. Presented with a set of caricatures by Telegraph cartoonist Christian Adams at a party at the Ritz, Farage reportedly chuckled at a picture of himself grinning and brandishing a pack of ‘American Embassy’ cigarettes. ‘I’m like Picasso,’ he said. ‘When I am dead, I’m going to be worth a fortune.’

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New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz is no fan of canine art appreciation. Tweeting a photo of a fashionably attired young woman walking a dog through the Metropolitan Museum on Sunday, Saltz commented: ‘If I see you at any museum with a “Psychological Comfort Dog” (not medical) I’m going to get Medieval on your ass.’

If I see you at any museum with a “Psychological Comfort Dog” (not medical) I’m going to get Medieval on your ass. ⚰ pic.twitter.com/9wwOi9Wwuv

— Jerry Saltz (@jerrysaltz) December 4, 2016

Saltz has been flying the flag for this particular cause for some time. ‘I hate all of these people’, he said told the New Yorker in 2014, referring to what he saw as pet owners ‘who can’t be alone without their dogs or who feel guilty about leaving their dumb dogs home alone’. He continued: ‘A few years ago, my wife and I were flabbergasted to see a smug-looking guy sauntering through MoMA while his “comfort dog” happily sniffed the paintings, as if to pee on one. I ran up to a guard and started yelling, “That guy’s dog is about to pee on the Pollock!” She looked at me and said, “There’s nothing we can do about it”.’

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Spotted at Art Basel Miami: rapper P Diddy hanging out at the Galerie Gmurzynska stand, where he allegedly brainstormed design ideas for his New York apartment with Claude Picasso and discussed expanding his art collection. A quick investigation of said property would appear to reveal that the rap mogul is already quite the collector: his sitting room is accessorised with what looks very much like a Tracey Emin neon, reading ‘I listen to the Ocean and all I hear is you’. Mo money mo problems, as someone once said…

Got a story for Rakewell? Get in touch at rakewell@apollomag.com or via@Rakewelltweets.