12 Jun 2016

You can't touch… or look: the crazy world of hidden art

From Standing Room Only, 2:25 pm on 12 June 2016
New York Times journalist Doreen Carvajal.

New York Times journalist Doreen Carvajal. Photo: Supplied

If you want proof that the super-rich have moved on from the conspicuous consumption of the Medicis and the Borgias of Renaissance Italy, take a look at what they do with their art. Or rather, don’t look. Millions of items of art are hidden away in dreary, private “free ports” around the world, especially in Switzerland. You don’t make money to buy art. Art is money! A recent New York Times article co-written by Doreen Carvajal said it all in the headline: “One of the world’s greatest art collections hides behind this fence”.