Art spending the result of egos run amok

Don Ellis, Henderson

Thursday, May 21, 2015 | 5:55 p.m.

When I read about the insane egos of today’s billionaires, I feel a great need to criticize their thinking and priorities.

A recent article claiming that Elaine Wynn spent in excess of $142 million on a painting blew my mind.

In the same article it pointed out that her $142 million figure was topped by some other buyer who spent $149 million on another painting.

Where is their sense of morality?

Do they not realize that middle-class and even some poor folks help make them billionaires?

The only reason paintings demand this type of idiocy is because billionaires try to outdo each other.

Without billionaires, these paintings might draw a six-figure bid if lucky.

They don’t worry if the bottom would fall out of the art market because they can’t lose when their dollars are stashed in the Cayman Island banks.

The dollars they would lose will be recouped by avoiding U.S. taxes on their fortunes.

I can understand the need for the high-on-the-hog living, but not the stupidity of creating a market for overexaggerated pricing.

The only place for a nice painting or relic is in a museum.

I would rather have a well-framed certificate of charity or goodwill hanging on my wall than a relic that belongs on a wall for the viewing of all.