How stories bring value in the high-end art world | Taliesin Thomas | TEDxFultonStreet

What is the difference between a painting worth $4M, $40M, or $450M? Aesthetics enthusiast Taliesin Thomas manages an exotic collection and regularly interacts in the highest echelons of the art world. In this talk she explores the stories behind Da Vinci's $450M "Salvator Mundi" portrait of Jesus Christ and Basquiat's $110M "Untitled" skull. Taliesin Thomas was first involved with the dynamic art world during her undergraduate days at Bennington College. She has worked in the field of contemporary Chinese art after living two years in rural China (1999-2001). Since 2007 she is the founding director of AW Asia, a private arts organization that promotes the field of contemporary Chinese art through institutional loans, museum acquisitions, curatorial projects, and publishing.

She is simultaneously the manager of a private art collection. Thomas has lectured widely on contemporary Chinese art, and she has published in ARTPULSE magazine, Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art (JCCA), and ArtAsiaPacific magazine. Thomas holds an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Columbia University and she is a Ph.D. candidate in Art Theory and Philosophy with the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts concurrent with her professional role in the art world. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx