Sotheby's Talks | How Do Objects Achieve Iconic Status, with Grayson Perry and Xa Sturgis

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• The term "icon" is often considered "threadbare" or synonymous with "cliché" because achieving iconic status often involves an object slipping the shackles of its material form to become a universally reproduced and symbolically charged cultural image, which can diminish its aesthetic value.  Copied to clipboard!
• Iconic status is frequently achieved through external factors like scandal (e.g., the Mona Lisa being stolen), market-making moments (record-breaking auctions), or leveraging media exposure, rather than intrinsic artistic quality alone.  Copied to clipboard!
• The process of iconization, especially in the digital age, can turn objects into easily consumable 'things' that save people from making independent aesthetic judgments, often leading to the object becoming invisible as a work of art.  Copied to clipboard!

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Defining the Term Icon

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(00:00:44)

• Key Takeaway: Iconic status involves instant recognizability, a deep connection, veneration, and an element of market-making tied to wealth and possession.
• Summary: An icon is defined by instant recognizability and a deep connection with the viewer, often carrying religious connotations of veneration. The market aspect, involving rarity and the power play of wealth, is also a key component in achieving this status. The word itself is often overused, leading to a sense of it being ’threadbare.'

Icon Status Kills Artistry

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(00:01:49)

• Key Takeaway: Becoming an icon can kill the aesthetic appreciation of a work of art by reducing it to a cliché.
• Summary: Grayson Perry suggests that the word ‘icon’ is often a synonym for ‘cliché,’ noting that once an object like the Mona Lisa becomes an icon, it is no longer seen as an aesthetic object. Xa Sturgis agrees that this fate is not happy for the artwork, but notes that iconization signifies the object slipping into a different, public sphere beyond the gallery or auction house.

Routes to Iconic Status

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(00:03:04)

• Key Takeaway: Iconic status can be deliberately manufactured by institutions, or achieved through external events like theft or media saturation.
• Summary: Routes to iconhood include dramatic events like the Mona Lisa’s theft or setting auction records, but museums actively try to manufacture icons for marketing purposes, as seen with the fragment of a face in a Turkish mosaic museum. The digital age and social media accelerate this process, turning everything into a ’thing’ that gains likes and goes viral, often killing the original appreciation.

The Ashmolean’s Icon Strategy

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(00:06:07)

• Key Takeaway: Museums seek icons for popularity, but focusing too heavily on one object, like the Ashmolean’s Stradivarius violin, can detract from the rest of the collection.
• Summary: The Ashmolean Museum was advised to promote its Stradivarius Messiah violin as an icon to attract Chinese visitors, a strategy Xa Sturgis views as counterproductive, citing the Louvre’s ‘Mona Lisa problem.’ A hypothetical solution to the Louvre’s issue is suggested: placing 20 good copies of the Mona Lisa around the museum and not revealing the original.

Iconic Recognition by Silhouette

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(00:07:33)

• Key Takeaway: True iconic artwork, like a good cartoon character, is often recognizable instantly by its silhouette alone.
• Summary: Grayson Perry notes that his own persona is recognizable by silhouette, linking this concept to iconic artwork. He suggests that many iconic images, such as Munch’s ‘The Kiss,’ can be reduced to a recognizable silhouette, indicating a fundamental graphic simplicity.

The Scream as a Bona Fide Icon

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(00:08:34)

• Key Takeaway: Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ is considered a true icon because it exists beyond its physical versions and has permeated culture, including inspiring emojis.
• Summary: Xa Sturgis identifies ‘The Scream’ as the only bona fide icon discussed, noting it has left the physical world for a different sphere, despite multiple versions existing. Its composition is centrally framed like a Byzantine icon, and its status is reinforced by being stolen twice and inspiring two emojis.

Raphael Drawing: Quality vs. Icon Status

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(00:10:28)

• Key Takeaway: Raphael’s ‘Head of a Young Apostle’ is a supreme example of singular artistic quality that has not achieved widespread iconic status.
• Summary: Raphael’s drawing is chosen specifically because it is not an icon, despite being one of the world’s greatest drawings, demonstrating that supreme quality does not guarantee icon status. The preparatory drawings for ‘The Transfiguration’ are considered more interesting than the final painting, showcasing the joy of the artistic process.

Stradivarius Violin and Perceived Value

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(00:12:55)

• Key Takeaway: The perceived value and sound quality of an object like a Stradivarius violin are heavily influenced by the owner’s knowledge of its legendary status, not just its material properties.
• Summary: The Messiah violin’s iconic status is tied to mystery, such as theories about a secret varnish, and its near-perfect preservation, as it has barely been played. Helena Newman relates this to a story where diners only found the fish bland after learning it wasn’t potentially lethal, suggesting that knowing an object is a Stradivarius influences perception of its sound.

US Constitution as a Living Icon

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(00:15:42)

• Key Takeaway: A document like the first printed US Constitution achieves iconic status through its high economic value and its continued contemporary relevance as a guiding political text.
• Summary: The first printed edition of the US Constitution sold for over $43 million, demonstrating the power of economic value combined with contemporary relevance. The sale featured a crowd-funded underbidder organized as a DAO during the 2021 crypto mania, highlighting modern engagement with historical documents.

Familiarity Fuels Iconic Status

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(00:17:04)

• Key Takeaway: Familiarity, often gained through reproduction and media references, makes an image susceptible to becoming iconic, even if the original object is rarely seen.
• Summary: Georges Seurat’s ‘A Sunday on La Grande Jatte’ is recognized by its profile, but most people know it only through reproductions or media like ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,’ as the painting rarely leaves the Art Institute of Chicago. Familiarity conditions viewers to accept the image as the definitive representation of its style, such as Divisionism.

Scandal and Record Sales in Icon Status

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(00:18:55)

• Key Takeaway: Van Gogh’s ‘Irises’ became iconic not just for its color and energy, but significantly due to the financial scandal surrounding its 1987 record sale involving Sotheby’s lending money to the buyer.
• Summary: Van Gogh’s ‘Irises’ set a world record in 1987, becoming iconic partly due to the scandal when it was revealed Sotheby’s had financed Alan Bond’s purchase during a financial crisis. This event cemented its fame in the context of art market ‘shenanigans,’ even if it is not considered a top-tier Van Gogh by general consensus.

Picasso’s Early Confidence and Later Iconography

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(00:21:04)

• Key Takeaway: Picasso’s early self-declaration, ‘Yo Picasso,’ inscribed on a painting just before his Blue Period, demonstrates an inherent confidence that foreshadowed his later iconic status.
• Summary: The early Picasso portrait, inscribed ‘Yo Picasso,’ shows the artist’s confidence just before his Blue Period, looking back at masters while anticipating his future impact. A later portrait of Marie-Thérèse from his ‘Golden Year’ (1932) is iconic due to its association with his secret affair and the symbolic ‘stolen time’ represented by her watch.

Klimt’s Icon Strategy and Market Power

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(00:24:29)

• Key Takeaway: Klimt achieved icon status by producing visually similar, instantly recognizable works that resemble religious icons, which is a tactic used by artists to ensure marketability across multiple works.
• Summary: Klimt’s signature style, which resembles Madonna-like icons, allows collectors to buy ‘a Klimt’ without deep knowledge of his oeuvre, a tactic used by prolific artists. The marketing process itself can create an icon, as seen when thousands queued to view the portrait of Elizabeth Lederer just before its record sale.

Magritte’s Image Paradox Icon

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(00:27:35)

• Key Takeaway: Magritte’s ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ functions as an icon for Surrealism by playing on the paradox between image and text, making middle-class viewers feel clever through reference.
• Summary: Magritte’s work is an icon because it presents a ‘platonic ideal of a pipe’ while simultaneously stating ’this is not a pipe,’ playing with the substance of words and images. The image is instantly recognizable and functions almost like an advertisement, representing Surrealism alongside Dalí’s ‘Persistence of Memory.’

Frida Kahlo’s Iconization and Snobbery

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(00:31:41)

• Key Takeaway: Frida Kahlo became an icon due to her distinct look (monobrow) and dramatic life story, leading some, like Grayson Perry, to reject her work due to its populist appeal.
• Summary: Grayson Perry expresses discomfort with Kahlo’s iconization, feeling the pleasure drain from her work as she became a ‘poster girl’ for a certain type of artist, linking this to his personal aversion to clichés. Kahlo possesses all the ingredients for iconization: a recognizable look and a compelling life story.

Rockwell’s Iconic Americana and Illustration

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(00:34:12)

• Key Takeaway: Norman Rockwell’s ‘Rosie the Riveter’ exemplifies the leveraging of an icon for political purposes, representing skilled illustration often looked down upon by high art.
• Summary: Rockwell’s 1943 image of Rosie the Riveter is an iconic piece of Americana, though illustration is often disdained in high art circles. The image is skillfully executed, showing disdain for the model’s actual appearance, and served to leverage the power of the icon for wartime political messaging.

Rothko as Patron Saint of Vague Spirituality

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(00:36:18)

• Key Takeaway: Mark Rothko’s abstract expressionism is critiqued as the patron saint of vague spiritualism and ‘paint fetishism,’ where viewers wait for an experience that may never materialize.
• Summary: Rothko represents the icon of Abstract Expressionism, an art form criticized for its ‘miserablist, vaguely spiritualist’ nature, where viewers wait for an experience that might not happen. Grayson Perry advocates for ‘Just Stop Oil Painting,’ arguing that painting is over-privileged in Western art history compared to other visual forms.

Warhol, Monroe, and Religious Parallels

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(00:38:36)

• Key Takeaway: Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe portrait fuses fame, beauty, and instant recognition, mirroring the structure of religious iconography created by a devout Catholic.
• Summary: Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe is considered one of the most iconic artworks because it combines the worship of fame, instant recognition, and beauty, echoing the structure of religious icons. The work features a goddess-like figure with a gold background, painted by a devout Catholic, fulfilling all necessary components for modern icon worship.

Jackie Kennedy’s Faux Pearls as Relics

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(00:39:23)

• Key Takeaway: Objects associated with famous personalities, like Jackie Kennedy’s faux pearls, function as ‘second-level relics,’ deriving immense value from their connection to the person.
• Summary: Jackie Kennedy’s faux pearls sold for over $200,000, far exceeding their material value, because they were worn in a photograph with JFK Jr., linking them to the icon of the personality. Grayson Perry frames this as a ‘second-level relic,’ something that touched the saint, demonstrating that primal human instincts for connection still drive the memorabilia market.

Catalan’s Banana: Materiality vs. Concept

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(00:42:09)

• Key Takeaway: Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Comedian’ (banana taped to the wall) achieved iconic status solely because its conceptual nature was validated by a $6 million sale price.
• Summary: Cattelan’s banana sold for $6 million, demonstrating that an object’s iconic status can be entirely dependent on its market validation, regardless of its material value or artistic merit. The work, which exists in an edition of three, is considered vintage performance art, and its fame was cemented when a subsequent banana was eaten during exhibition.