The Luck of a Rentboy. . .

[robberbaron4u]

Nogouchi pedestal sells for $250,000+ at auction. "And I thought it was just a piece of 'Jap crap'". . .

[cany10011]

Actually, Noguchi was an american born to a western mother and japanese father. His mother raised him in the states and in japan and he spent a lot of his life in europe. His pieces are lovely and if you have a chance to visit the Noguchi museum in Long Island City, i highly recommend it ... there's a lot of the crap that you refer to in that museum.

 

 

 

Nogouchi pedestal sells for $250,000+ at auction. "And I thought it was just a piece of 'Jap crap'". . .

[robberbaron4u]

The notation of the Nogouchu pedestal as "Jap Crap" was that of the rentboy, not me; unfortunately, rumour has it that the item was not, in fact, the property of the rentboy to sell; the notoriety of the sale attracted the notice of an art dealer who alerted the purported "real" owners of the piece, and, of course, they want it back.

[+ Lucky]

Your thread has no background by which we could know what you are talking about when you refer to a rentboy. A link would help. My own Google search reveals that a Nogouchu pedestal sold at auction for $320,500 when it was expected to sell for some $3000. No mention of rentboy or "japcrap" is made: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2011/12/16/noguchi-pedestal-sans-sculpture-sells-for-stunning-320500-at-auction/

 

And, incidentally, the sale was last December, making it old news by now.

[robberbaron4u]

Forgive me. As a matter of fact, the Nogouchi pedestal was consigned to auction by a M4RN rentboy out of Atlanta. As by the Forbes article, he represented that the pedestal had been given to him by his former "partner", David Heath, a well-known art dealer. Although the action house estimate was $3000+/-, the pedestal sold for $320,500. Had the piece realized the auction house estimate, the sale would not have been notable; however, given that it realized in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars of the estimate, the sale was "newsworthy" and floated in print and on the www. As the story has been related to me, Heath's former lover and "real" partner in his art gallery, picked up on the sale, and, being familiar with the piece, alerted the purported "real" owners of the pedestal, an Atlanta businessman and his wife who had purchased it as part and parcel of a large Nogouchi sculpture, that is, the two pieces "went together". Apparently, Heath failed to deliver the pedestal to them, and, when he located to Georgia mountains from Atlanta, the pedestal went with him. The owners are now actively pursuing the return of the pedestal. At the time of his death, Heath was "broke", his Atlanta and Key West house gone to pay debts, and, his mountain home in foreclosure. The sale was a financial "windfall" for his penniless paramour who had returned, by necessity, to "escorting" at the age of 45+ to pay his rent and put food on his table. The rentboy, who has located to Palm Springs from Georgia, assures me that he is "on top of his game". It's a wonderful life, but, go figure. . .

[gallahadesquire]

Man, you couldn't make this stuff up!

[robberbaron4u]

If I did not fear the the end result would be my treading water in a mine shaft deep in the forest, I would undertake to "write a book". . .

[Phil_musc]

This reads like the plot of a made-for-TV movie - let's hope the creative folks at HBO are reading about this.

[robberbaron4u]

Or, perhaps, the National Enquirer. . .

[+ Lucky]

They could get funding by selling some crazy pedestal!

[operalover21]

This reads like the plot of a made-for-TV movie - let's hope the creative folks at HBO are reading about this.

 

There would have to be a murder. Perhaps that is coming?

[Xander]

There would have to be a murder. Perhaps that is coming?

 

i like your style

[robberbaron4u]

Are you suggesting a "Black Widow" scenario?

[robberbaron4u]

Xander! Xander!! Xander!!!

[seeker630]

There would have to be a murder. Perhaps that is coming?

 

OOOOH - and perhaps the remains secreted in the pedestal somehow!

[Phil_musc]

There would have to be a murder. Perhaps that is coming?

 

Oh, be still my wildly beating heart - so many great minds are moving in synchronicity - truly inspiring.

 

Might I even suggest perhaps this idea moves beyond the realm of mere drama and into the truly over-the-top world of Grande Opera?

[JustASailor]

RobberBaron,

 

Surely I'm not the only person on the board who's been thinking, "RobberBaron should write a book."

 

Why not commit it to paper--or, for you, vellum and iron gall ink--and then decide its publishing future? You could use a pseudonym or leave it to a literary executor who can shop it around after you've ascended to the great nude beach in the sky.

[robberbaron4u]

I am flattered, but, in my opinion, my "memoirs" would make for a tired and tedious tale, and, of course, those "confidences" to which I have been made privy to in life must go the grave with me . . .

[Phil_musc]

Oh geese, RB, and here I thought all this time you were a fun guy. . .

[robberbaron4u]

"Sunny serious" tempered by bemusement is my natural disposition. . .

[Phil_musc]

I like that! Well at any rate, you've got quite an imagination and certainly know how to turn a phrase (like some can turn a head. . . )

[robberbaron4u]

With rentboys, I have found that truth is, indeed, sometimes stranger than fiction; take, for example, the rentboy and the prince, certainly the stuff of a good Vanity Fair expose. And, forty years ago, I COULD turn a head or two. . .