One Thousand Paintings and Money Series Creators The Australian artist Anthony White of the Money Series paintings and the Swiss artist Marcel "Sala" Salathe of the One Thousand Paintings series have teamed up to create painting bonds.

A bond is basically a loan with an agreed figure to be repaid upon maturity. So, the Bond paintings are bought at a price (determined by an eBay auction), and Anthony and Sala will agree to buy the painting back for a price.

I probably complicated that description, so I'll use theirs.. "A Salathé & White painting is a debt security, in which Salathé & White owe the highest bidder a debt (indicated on the painting) and they are obliged to repay the debt upon safe return during a specific month that is indicated on the painting." Salathe and White

As an example, their first Bond painting (pictured to the left) promises to pay the buyer of the work $1,063 USD in February 2008 upon its safe return to the artists. The painting is for auction on eBay and the current bid is $53. Which means that it is currently a very good investment that would return about $1000 in a couple months for a commitment of $53!

So they are further blurring the link between art and commerce. Is it art? Is it an investment? Is it just a gimmick? Are they making fun of art buyers? Are they just great businessmen? Who knows..

Update: The highest bid for the first bond painting is now at US $1,286!! There's still eight days left of the auction, so I don't think the bidding has stopped yet. As a "bond" it is no longer a good investment, but as a work of art, the verdict is still out.

Update 2: The first bond painting by Sala and Anthony White was sold for $1,286. So it wouldn't make sense for the buyer to return the painting to the artists for $1,063 in February.

Here's a quote that seems appropriate for this post..
"Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art." Andy Warhol

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