Slice of memories who will never be published (1) : the value of things.

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When I was a student I rented during a few months an attic room. I was in Paris but the inhabitants of this building were directly coming from the Russian Empire. My landlord -- he was not really, but was authorized to sublet a maid's room -- was an old, poor, retired, depressive and mustachioed man born in Paris from a couple of Russian emigrants. He was divorced and alone and struck often at my door to offer me a drink. The walls of his flat were covered of paintings and drawings made by Russian artists arrived in Paris after 1917 like his parents. Many were portraits or sketches of him since he was a child, many others were contemporary art. I remember I asked who was the author of a large blue, black and red panel who was fixed on the door... in the toilet room ! He had a large smile and said : "He painted also this one, and this one, and this one, and..." He stood up, took a photo album, showed me a man in a small restaurant's orchestra : "Sergei was a great player of balalaika !" I concluded that my landlord would not earn a lot if he wanted to sell his paintings... Ten years later, I was invited in a rich house, and I recognized on a painting in the corridor the same shades of blue and red. I could not hold : "What a surprise : I know somebody who has at least ten paintings of this player of balalaika." My host stared wide-eyed and replied : "I would like to have ten Poliakoff : I bought this one $100,000 and it was a great deal." Well, everybody can make a mistake : a large painting of Serge Poliakoff -- who played balalaika in restaurants during many years to survive in Paris --, like the panel I saw on this door is worth... half a million dollars today, maybe more. My poor landlord was not so poor. Buyers and sellers are making the price of contemporary art. Owners of Paid To Click sites and members are making the price of a click : some new members at myLot find natural to receive emails at $100 each. I have often made errors on the value of things, not only on the art that you can see in the toilet rooms. And you ?