An
artist friend of mine recently started a Facebook discussion about the
significance of the above photo. Turns
out it’s the world’s most expensive photograph, selling this past November at
Christie’s for – now brace yourself – a whopping $4.3 million! I know!
Some naysayers may scold, saying that amount of money could be put to
such good use elsewhere in this world. If
you’re anything like me, your immediate response was to try to make some sense
out of that exorbitant purchase price.
(Although, I have the unfortunate tendency to second guess myself after,
for example, dropping 75 bucks on a print I appreciate at the Fountain Hills Festival
of Arts & Crafts.)
I
did a little research and found an article discussing the Rhein II on NPR’s website. An
arts editor queried, “Does it come with several Ferraris?” Another blogger offered, "One can only
assume the collector really likes stripes of green and gray," which caused
me to chuckle, because that’s what struck me about the photo – the alternating parallel lines in
two colors, gray and green. I love how
the sky, the water, and the sidewalk are virtually the same color. Having said that, I’m not motivated to make
the photograph part of my collection – yes, even if it were currently on the
market in my price range.
Lest
we continue scoffing at the seeming absurdity of this transaction, there are a
few details you should know. First, the
size of the photo is a muralesque 6 X 11 feet, which has to be spectacular in
person. Not only that, the photographer
himself lends a prestige to his work, thus driving up the value. Andreas Gursky is no newb – and this is not
his only photo to make the top ten list of the highest-priced photographed
images – his 99 Cent II Diptychon sold
at Sotheby's for $3.3 million in 2007.
His craft is museum worthy, with pieces hanging in Gotham’s MoMA and
London’s Tate Modern.
The
article further contemplates that perhaps the artist’s German heritage
contributes to the price, the Rhine (which runs through Gursky's hometown of
Dusseldorf) being "one of the most symbolic motifs in German art," according
to Francis Outred, head of Europe in post-war and contemporary art at
Christie's.
Finally,
the photographer’s technique may factor in to the equation, as the article
indicated Gursky is famous for his large-scale productions, for his exacting
printing methods, and for pioneering a unique combination of film and digital
processes. Yawn. Sorry, I get it; I’m boring even myself right
now. If you’re still reading, thanks for
bearing with me – I feel like there’s a point coming on.
We
humans tend to value objects, and even people, by whether they engage us aesthetically.
As we’ve seen in the above illustration,
however, the evaluation does not always occur at the surface level. Sometimes worth is attributed based on other
intangibles. Regardless, when it comes
to what an individual will invest in, I think it’s safe – although cliché – to
say it’s all relative. Nonetheless, there
are some things that are generally accepted en masse, and the reverse is also
true. Some things are generally rejected
by the populace as a whole.
You
know, I have to confess, I don’t have a great deal of patience when it comes to
humankind (yes, I do realize that term applies to me also). I get disgusted rather easily when scrolling
through social media, watching television, driving, you get the picture. (And if either of my sons is reading this, I
know his head is bobbing fiercely in the affirmative with eyes in the rolled
back position!)
Now
before you get on my case too much, I’m obviously not referring to the warm and
cutesy stuff, the generally informative stuff, the eclectically appealing stuff
that comprises my 262 pages of Likes. And
won’t you admit with me that it’s quite easy for us to accept and approve of
the things that make us feel good and the people who bring something to the
party that promises to enhance our lives.
You
know, it hit me after the recent passing of Kim Jong Il that not one of my FB friends
posted the apparently obligatory “RIP” on his behalf. Okay, you got me – yes, I was trolling the
site that day – I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that none of my American
friends would wish this guy a peaceful afterlife. Don’t worry – I get it. It makes perfectly logical sense.
I
mean, after all, why would anyone in his right mind wish well on an arrogant,
albeit dead, guy who was said to be self-centered in policy decisions, controlling,
and volatile in his emotions? I know, I
know, it’s not so much about his playboy lifestyle with all its excesses, and
certainly not the lifts in his shoes and pompadour hairstyle that he supposedly
used to make himself appear taller – it’s the nukes, the nukes!
Thankfully,
God is no respecter of persons. The
apostle Peter said in Acts 10:34, “I most certainly understand now that God is
not one to show partiality.” We humans
want to compare ourselves to one another, and, by golly, you can bet your
bottom dollar I’m most assuredly going to fare better than North Korea’s late Guiding
Star of the 21st Century. But, guess
what – it doesn’t work that way.
I can’t say I’m better than
Hitler and be satisfied. God’s
requirement is total perfection. Total
righteousness. Total purity. Yes, yes, I’ll stop typing. Unless you’re totally deluded, you know you
can’t meet that standard. Which brings
me to the Advent message at last (I pray I’m not verbose!). “God demonstrated His own love toward us, in
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Do you see yet that “the Word
(Christ – the Logos – the essence, the expression of God incarnate) became
flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) as a wildly generous demonstration of His
love for you and me?! And His life – the
life of Almighty God – was the purchase price of our redemption. Understand that there is no intrinsic value
in the picture portrayed on the canvass of our lives. We’re not worth $4.3MM – you probably don’t
want to hear this, but we’re not worth $4.30 in and of ourselves. Remember that sin thing?
Thankfully, God doesn’t look at
us and evaluate us by what we’ve done or not done or how cute we are or aren’t
or if we have peeps or no peeps, etc, etc.
We have value because of Christ.
Period. We are spectacular in
person because of the personhood of Christ.
Not only that, the Creator Himself lends
a prestige to His work, thus driving up our value. God’s craft is earthscape worthy, with pieces
hanging all over the world, like the Aurora Borealis, the Grand Canyon, the
Victoria Falls, Mount Everest… The
Artist’s heritage is in keeping with how worthy He thinks we are – Christ came
as a man, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David (Revelation 5:5), to
overcome sin and death on our behalf.
And the Master’s technique is exacting,
as each of us was “skillfully wrought… in our mothers’ wombs” (Psalm 139:15,
13).
If
you take one thing away from this post, let it be this: God thinks you are
worthy enough for Him to have come to this earth as a man and die on your
behalf. But that’s not because of
anything you earned in and of yourself.
It’s because God says so – because He loves you. He says you, alone, are worth His life. No matter if anyone else thinks His is a poor
investment that could be better spent elsewhere. Please, acknowledge His love today.
What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has
gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and
search for the one that is straying? ~ Matthew 18:12
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