The Art of Raising the Level

Interviewed after his victory at Wimbledon 2023, Carlos Alcaraz said: “After the first set, I thought: ‘Carlos, increase the level or everyone will be disappointed’.” Sounds easy enough, but raising the level is actually no simple matter: it’s the secret of champions, and not only in tennis. It’s true in the world of fine art dealers, too, as Simone Facchinetti explains here. When they get their hands on an artwork that lends itself to the practice, they then choose the right location to show it (which continent, which art fair…), the appropriate level of restoration, the right artist’s name for the attribution. Raising all those levels can work miracles. Facchinetti offers three instructive examples of the procedures – or tricks – of the trade. In a few rare cases, experienced dealers can transform a canvas attributed to a workshop into an original, with “a copy in the Louvre.” How is that done? You just have to raise the level. Proof that it works? Just watch the level rise in those dealers’ bank accounts.