Robin Bonner
What picture comes to mind when you think IRS art appraiser? What demeanor? OK, now prepared to have your perceptions shattered. Meet Robin Bonner and learn about her wild and wonderful journey through the art world and finally to Santa Fe.
In this expansive episode of ArtStorming, host Lili explores the multifaceted life of seventy-six-year-old art appraiser Robin Bonner, whose journey began as a child in South Texas using water as paint on a redwood table. Robin recounts a radical life that shifted from studying elementary education to hitchhiking across Canada in 1968, sailing with a Coca-Cola heir, and eventually finding her calling in archaeological illustration and the high-stakes world of fine art appraisal. She shares how her artistic background allows her to walk into a painting to intuitively judge quality, while her analytical side navigates the complexities of the IRS and forensic authentication to uncover valuation fraud.
The conversation bridges the gap between the internal process of the artist and the external machinery of the art market, discussing how billionaire collectors and galleries often manipulate demand through programmed sales, vanity museums, and unregulated art advisors. Robin provides a candid look at the contemporary art bubble, the sobering reality of famous forgeries like the Knoedler Gallery scandal, and the legal intricacies of donation forms and capital gains. Throughout the dialogue, she reflects on the changing nature of collecting, where status names are often prioritized over genuine connection, yet she remains hopeful about the cyclical return to authenticity. As she discusses the future of massive private collections and the lack of interest from millennial heirs, Robin advocates for the enduring power of living with art on one's walls to foster personal growth rather than treating it as a sterile vault investment.
