[Member Brief] A Commerce Sec… for VP??

Welcome to Friday, futurists.

Today the eyes of the world turn toward Paris at the start of the XXXIII Olympiad. This year, small brands are stepping up onto a big stage, and with it comes media infighting and drama about who reported on it first.

Three things for you before we dive into our content today: 

1. Now Available: Our 2200-word analysis of Yotpo’s historic brand turnaround is now available for all subscribers. Read “136 Days” on Future Commerce Insiders (no paywall).
   
   
2. New Essay on Insiders: Brands aren’t just selling products—they're selling illusions. Welcome to the era of Potemkin Brands, where facades aren't just for show, they're for survival. Read “Potemkin World” on Insiders.
   
   
3. NEW for Members: In our newest member-exclusive briefing, we explore the possibility of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo as a frontrunner for VP in Kamala Harris's groundbreaking presidential campaign. “Member Briefing: A Counterfactual Technocracy” (This briefing is paywalled for members of Future Commerce Plus)

Easel Does It: From Gilded Age to Gen Z

I’m a boomer in the making, despite still being in my thirties (if only barely). So it shouldn’t surprise you that I appreciate things that have older, antiquated aesthetics and techniques—winemaking, a Pendleton blanket, an all steel-body Ford truck, pipe tobacco; even oil painting. From Manet to Monet, count me in.

Some few weeks ago, my wife and I escaped to the Hamptons for our 16th wedding anniversary. The Lange household is comprised of eight chickens, four kids, three dogs, three cats, and a finally completed new home build… you could say we needed it. Our trip to Long Island was bookended by a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Gilded Age mansions of the Hamptons; a la F. Scott Fitzgerald. From museum halls to the salons of those American chateaus I seemed to reencounter oil paintings time and again on this trip.

Oil painting may have lost some of its luster in the 20th century, but many of these paintings have continued to gain value through an era where other mediums took a front seat. As the Time-Sotheby’s Index suggested by mid-century “Your money is safe in art.” In fact, entire venture capital theses have been developed around the concept and financial vehicle of fractional investing in all kinds of collectible goods; specifically art and oil paintings.

This market purportedly outperforms stock indexes (or at least that’s what Masterclass says in their podcast ads).

Commerce is Culture

Oil artist Noah Verrier has a career that spans over 30 years, during which he has gained significant recognition. In 2014, he was selected as one of the nation's top 40 painters by "New American Paintings" Magazine. His artwork can be found in private and public collections worldwide.

His collection has caught the millennial eye by fusing commerce with the cultural expression of oil painting. His Dutch Impressionist style captures dimly-lit McDonald’s value meals, a tablescape of Taco Bell, or perhaps wine paired with Cup of Noodles. “It’s the perfect fusion of hi/lo,” I remarked on an exchange via Twitter about Verrier’s work.
The AI art movement made me nervous to look into Noah’s creative process. With AI mashups on the rise and my only window into his work through the pixels of my phone via a social platform, I expected his work to be a quickly manufactured piece of content built for digital sharing. When I discovered it was authentically painted, I found myself much more interested. It felt somehow stickier, like the peanut butter of his depicted Uncrustable. I have a feeling I’ll encounter his work in the wild again.

It also solidified to me that the medium is still important. As usual, the witty content is a juicy distraction from the point: the medium of oil is still poignant and appreciated. It gives me hope that dedicating one's life to mastering this beautiful craft remains worthwhile.

This is important to me personally because my son Peter is a phenom artist and painter. When Peter was ten years old, he became obsessed with Bob Ross. The only TV show he wanted to watch was Bob Ross. After about two months, he asserted to me “Dad, I think I can do this.” 

He saved up all of his money (yes I make my kids work for their money) and after he amassed what I assumed would be enough we browsed art supplies together on my phone. “I want the real stuff, good paints, brushes, canvases.”

When the supplies arrived he declared “ok, I’m going to paint now.” We handed him a dropcloth and went about our business. Ninety minutes later we came back to him and I swear, with no assistance, here’s what we returned to find:

My wife and I are not artists, so yes, we were astonished. Now to be fair, he did follow along with Bob Ross. And he knew it. Five paintings later, he told me “I want to do a painting in my own style.” Here’s what he painted:

We are unequipped to help him with his talents, so finally this past year we put him into lessons. Scroll to the end in The Sixth Sense for more Peter Lange originals.

The “old mediums” persist long after new mediums emerge. Old mediums (like oil paintings) eventually become part of the fabric for capital, for investment, for cultural institutions. Artists like Noah Verrier blend traditional methods with current themes, attracting new audiences while maintaining the essence of the craft. It proves that commerce and art alike adapt to market demands, and how cultural trends, humor, and creative vision shape commercial value (and demand attention).

Attention in the algorithm is the juxtaposition of culture and commerce.

— Brian