Mr. Close is a product of the high stakes casino politics of the gallery system - witness the fact that he can afford to give away $400,000 of his paintings each year...this alone speaks volumes about his position in the art world.

Being able to write off the market value (rather than the cost of materials) of a work of art is not something most artists can even think about since they most likely don't make a living from their work.

Mr Close should stick to managing his financial portfolio instead of weighing in on taxation for artists.

It would be an advantage to change tax laws for ALL of us who sell our work at any level, and are not famous. We could give work to local charities, schools, hospitals and gain a tax break, besides getting our work out there. We should never resent those artists who have made it.. they create interest for all art, and they inspire the rest of us. We can benefit from seeing work we don't love or relate to..but we have to see it. Making it beneficial to donate work means more will be available to see.

Did Umm, no..umm, uhhhh, one errr, ummm ever err, ummm tell you, uh you, umm that err, your public, errr ummm, manner of errr, ummm, speaking is errrr, boring and ummm, did you err NOT know, that ummmm, a camera was ummmm there?

Time to grow up and think about more than one word at a time. What ever it was you had to say.

I want to listen to his take on American right wing disdain for the elitism necessary to support art. Have you already removed this? What about his analysis of Brad Pitt? Have you removed this from Play and/or transcript?

Please explain?