Tell me that this kind of art world does not corrupt the soul

For a spirit-sucking description of art and power, see the excellent piece by Laura Cumming, "What price the rise of private art?" The Observer, Sunday, Oct 12, 2008. A rich piece, well worth the read (grab a cup of coffee or glass of wine first, as it is longish). Yet, so much is still left out of this account in terms of the base of the pyramid: the tonnes of galleries who believe in their artists and discover them before the top-feeders try to pick them off (on "gallerists" versus "dealers", see the article for the distinction), great artists who may never be widely recognized as great, and collectors who buy art for the love of art and not the symbol of status, but Cumming would need to write a whole book to map the whole art world (which I hope she does) and fully account for the systemic pathologies that define the hyper-calculating 'elite' art world.