Has art jumped the shark after WWI?

[Alex K]

There's something in me that I could never rate such a technically simple picture with, say, the best of the old dutch masters and their refined technique and ideas for example about lighting and shadow in the case of Rembrandt and followers. That being said, wife and I spent a day at Tate gallery st. Ives last year, where they exhibit a woman who collaborated with mondrian and prodiced very similar works. We had a guide who explained to us the biographic backgrounds and formal developments that took place between mondrian and her, and it was a very enjoyable way to spend a rainy afternoon. So there's that...

And yet, things like that obviously find their customers. High paying customers as this example shows.

A tin was sold for €124,000 at Sotheby's on May 23, 2007;[5] in October 2008 tin 083 was offered for sale at Sotheby's with an estimate of £50-70,000. It sold for £97,250. The cans were originally to be valued according to their equivalent weight in gold — $37 each in 1961 — with the price fluctuating according to the market.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artist%27s_Shit

But what about a Mondrian? It's as simple as can get.