On a recent Princess cruise my wife and I decided to go to the art auctions since this particular trip had a lot of sea days. We were introduced to Alexandra Nechita pieces, both originals and numbered reproductions. We watched several videos about her in our cabin. At first we were quite taken in by the whole story and her Picasso-style paintings. But by the end of the trip I was soooo over her, and wondering if the whole thing is a sham.

I guess that would naturally lead to the question of whether Picasso himself was a sham. I mean this style of artwork reminds me of LSD-induced hallucinations while staring at a colorful carpet. Its that imagery from the mindҒs third eye captured in a still shot, and I guess thats why itҒs considered genius. But is it really any good, or is it only good because everybody else says its good?

It isnҒt really fair to compare Picasso to Nechita. I have been to the Picasso museum in Barcelona and it takes you through the periods of his life. The man was a brilliant portrait and landscape painter much of his career. He developed the abstract style which he is so popular for slowly over the course of years. It was the final segment of his legacy, but is what he became famous for. So he was actually a well-rounded painter.

Nechita started off by painting that style. I mean, right out the gate like when she was five years old. They called her a child prodigy, a genius. She didnt even see PicassoҒs work until after she started having shows of her own work. Its said that the first time she saw his paintings she tugged on her motherҒs dress and said Mommy look! That man paints like I do!Ӕ

Cute story, yes. And the paintings do have a uniform quality with good use of colors. But are they worth tens of thousands of dollars? Are they really pleasant to look at? Or do the people who buy them just collect paintings because certain artists are trendy? Are her paintings the emperors new clothes? Do those crazy half-cocked images with heads sticking out of shoeboxes and kindergarten-like hands constitute quality art any more than your kidҒs crayon drawings on the refrigerator? I guess the answer is in your own eyes. Providing, of course, you have the ability to use them in an unbiased and purely observational manner.

By the way if you are interested in collecting art and buying it right, you cant do better than on those Princess cruises. The exact same pieces are going to cost hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands more from land-based galleries. That doesnҒt mean the land-based galleries are ripping you off they have high overhead and are in the art business. Princess buys in huge volume for their large fleet of ships and is in the cruising business, so there is no real overhead to have to justify. Just a parting tip.

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