SG MAG AUGUST 2019 MAIN_2a

The art market is a multi-billion dollar market worldwide and has in the last few decades seen a meteoric
rise in value. As governments print more and more fiat so the value of unique art rises. Art has become an
asset class in its own right with many companies creating art funds and banks more flexible on loans
against art as collateral. It has been referred to as the last truly unregulated market. Despite fakes and
price manipulation by dealers, galleries and auctions the art market has roared to new heights and more
than 50% of all art is now sold privately. Auction prices have been suspect over the years because of shill
bidding. In many cases the bidders are never made public. Of course it’s highly illegal. Past law suites and
prosecutions have been well documented. Even the artists themselves have been known to fictionalize their
sales as private buyers often do not wish to disclose what they’ve paid. At the higher values of art the top
galleries emphasize the legend of the artist and buyers are intimidated by sophisticated, well accented
salespersons hyping their particular favorite artists. The sales people are trained to make you feel inferior
and find out the depth of your pocket before they will even discuss the art. Art has it’s snob value and it’s
still very much caveat emptor. However things are changing as more and more millionaires are surfacing
who recognize original art for both its intrinsic beauty and profitable. They’re nobody’s fools.
We pride ourselves in selling only certifiable original art. Having an artist with a very low production
number reduces opportunity for fraud. There are millions of really great artists most of whom will never
reach the dizzy financial status of artists like Jeff Coons, Damien Hirst, Cy Twombly and Rothko. Artists need
sponsors to promote them. Jackson Pollack had Peggy Guggenheim and Basquiat had Madonna. Andy
Warhol struggled for years until the Campbell Soup can, which prompted the comment that “If this is art,
this is the end of Art”, projected him to art stardom. Prices take off meteorically after the artist passes
away. The success of a particular artist is very dependent on marketing. Scarcity is another major factor in
the value. The “story” of the artist and what statement is made by the art is also important.
Andy Warhol’s soup can prompted me in 2010 to conceive the “Million Dollar Harley” to bring Armstrong,
onto the world stage. This Harley Davidson, painted by him, quickly became the most expensive motorcycle
in the world. While it appears currently to have disappeared into the cosmos, it is still being feted across the
entire world. A simple google search reveals copious entries referencing the Cosmic Harley in many
different languages. I fully identified with Armstrong’s stand against the art establishment’s questionable
practices calling them the art cartel. Of course this excluded him from the traditional selling platforms.
Sentiment is moving more and more towards private sales bypassing the art establishment.
Armstrong is confident that his art will reach the values of his erstwhile colleagues from the 80’s and
believes he will see a $100 million sale of at least one of his paintings during his lifetime. Star Global
believes this is achievable not least because there are only 100 of his unique Cosmic X paintings but also
there can never be more than 100. Star Global continues to promote the art to the fullest extent possible
using somewhat unusual media. We are celebrating a 1 year retrospective of his work in New York’s, Times
Square and a limited edition Cosmic 100 published magazine. His works until 2014 could only be seen on
the internet unless you were lucky enough to obtain one of his three very limited and expensive special
coffee table books. Other promotions are currently ongoing and more are planned. Star Global’s limited
edition magazine is the only hard copy compendium of his entire 100 paintings still available at $100 each.
We have reserved numbers 1 to 100 for the owners of the paintings. To celebrate this 1st year of our digital
retrospective we persuaded one of our collectors to allow the sale of 2 original Armstrong Cosmic paintings
for a limited period. This could be the opportune moment to make a valued purchase.
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