«ART IS WHAT YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH»

ANDY Warhol got no respect in Canada. In his upcoming book, "Andy Warhol," art critic Arthur Danto says that when the pop-art czar created his controversial "Brillo Boxes" at the Factory, a Toronto art dealer tried to import 80 of the kitschy works. "But [he] ran into difficulty with Canadian Customs," Danto writes. "As sculpture, they would have entered duty-free, but Customs considered them merchandise and demanded an import tax of $4,000." When the government asked the National Gallery of Canada for an expert opinion, the gallery agreed: In no way were the boxes, which looked like ordinary Brillo containers, art. Today, they're worth mil lions.

New York Post
July 19 2009