Be it visual, theatrical, musical or written, I love the Arts. Creating or appreciating art is nothing short of a spiritual experience. I own some originals including my most prized masterpiece (shown above) titled “I’m Thankful for You”.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I suspect this was a collaborative piece. I doubt a chunky orange Crayola in the hands of a 3 ½ year old could have drawn the beak, wattle and legs on this turkey. I think a Master might have added finishing touches.)

All of this reminds me of a story I recently read in the New York Times.

There are these three twenty-something Frenchmen who own a company in France. They are a collective of artists and technology students who are programming computers to ‘learn’ art. In other words, they are working on the advancement of Artificial Intelligence, or AI.

For their most recent project they scanned 15,000 images of portraits painted between the 14^th and 20^th centuries. They challenged their computer to “study” these artworks and produce an original. The computer “learned” about art history portraiture then (ta-dah) rendered its own original portrait on the computer screen.

“Ooh la la!” the Frenchmen exclaimed.

They drank some Bordeaux, noshed on Brie and grapes and titled the portrait, “Edmond de Belamy, from La Famille de Belamy.”  They printed the portrait and sent it to Christies Auction House for auction.

Christies installed the print next to a limited edition by Andy Warhol and a Roy Lichtenstein original bronze. On the day of the auction, the Warhol and Lichtenstein sold for $75,000 and $87,500 respectively.

The auctioneer opened bidding for the computer generated portrait at $7,000.00. Bidders met the opening price and battled for ownership for seven minutes before the final bid went unchallenged.

“Going once, going twice…” the auctioneer hit the gavel on the podium and proclaimed, “…sold to the phone-in bidder for $425,000!”

That’s right, $425,000.00-U.S. (Yes, that included fees and taxes, but still.)

I accept that art is subjective. For example, I wouldn’t sell my “Thankful for You” at any price. It would be like selling part of my soul. But my husband owns an original 1940’s pin-up girl piece I would gladly sell for about $142.35-U.S. (Christies, please call me!)

I understand wealth is relative. A Gabazillionaire buying a $425,000 print is relative to me buying a souvenir t-shirt.

I think Artificial Intelligence could be used for good while also thinking, “Open the pod doors HAL.”

But seriously, who is the turkey who bought this print and why did he (and you know it’s a guy) pay $425,000? (Oops, was that too judgy?)

Did he buy it because the aliens who sometimes visit instructed him to buy it?

Is he like that friend we all have who camps outside of a store to be the first in line to own the first of anything?

Was it a mistake and he thought he was bidding on the Lichtenstein?

Or, maybe (and this is my favorite) the mother of one of those twenty-something Frenchmen bought it to proudly tape on her refrigerator door.

What’s a boomer to do?  Enjoy the Arts.  Go to a concert, see a movie, get lost in a museum.  And if someone gifts you with a hand turkey, realize you are indeed wealthy and loved.