Skip to main content
Can Just Everyone Understand Modern Art?
Collection StructureFiring Line broadcast records > Episode guide > Can Just Everyone Understand Modern Art?
Item Title Can Just Everyone Understand Modern Art?
Guest Safer, Morley
Host Buckley, William F., Jr. (1925-2008)
Date CreatedNovember 12, 1998
Description

WFB begins cautiously: "Vincent van Gogh sold one painting before committing suicide at age 37. His paintings now sell for $10 million minimum. Igor Stravinsky noted in his autobiography that it takes, as a rule, fifty years for the listening public to catch on to what a composer is up to. Taking all that into consideration ... are we being hornswoggled?" And we're off on a delicious romp through the world of modern art, starting with a photograph of Pristine Vacuum Cleaner by Jeff Koons, which Mr. Buckley asks his guest to describe. MS: "That is something called a Shop-Vac, which I am sure many viewers have in their garage as we speak. That happens to be a new, virginal Shop-Vac. Never been used. I can't remember the precise price. I think it was $500,000 or $600,000... Now what makes it different from your Shop-Vac? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all other than that it has been declared a piece of art by Mr. Koons, and certainly by Mr. Koons's dealers, and, more remarkably, by some of the most distinguished critics."

Subject(s)
Language(s)
Country of Origin
Place RecordedNew York City, New York, United States
DimensionsDuration: 30 minutes
FormatText
Medium television programs
Aspect Ratio
4:3
Color
color
Soundtrack
sound
Hoover IDProgram S1186
Record Number80040.1468
NotesVideo not currently available for purchase.
RightsCopyright held by Stanford University. This copy is provided for educational and research purposes only. No publication, further reproduction, or reuse of copies, beyond fair use, may be made without the express written permission of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives on behalf of Stanford University.
  • Hoover ID: 80040.1468
  • Amazon DVD
  • Amazon Prime & Instant Video
  • Special order a DVD or digital file
  • Video not available. Request program be made available.
  •  Contact us for licensing information.

Feedback Form

Type of feedback
User data
Close