cultural capital

The Children of New York Will Rule Us All

Veruca Salt

I own you.Photo: Corbis

Something strange is happening with The Children. Not only are they advising their parents on life decisions, developing sophisticated palates, and starting rock bands, now the Wall Street Journal is announcing they are building a niche in the international art market. As collectors. Today, intrepid Weekend Journaler Kelly Crowe introduces us to a few young New Yorkers whose weekly allowance is more than most of have in our 401Ks.

First there’s 13-year-old Ace Ehrlich, son of developer Bil “For Some Reason My Name Has Only One L in It” Ehrlich, who receives an art allowance with which he recently purchased a Richard Phillips. Then there’s Brahm Wachter, the 17-year-old son of Sotheby’s George, whose collection includes an “awesome” Rembrandt, a Pissarro, a Picasso, and a David Hockney. And let’s not forget Charlie Rosen, the 11-year-old son of megadeveloper Aby. Charlie recently attended an auction where he bid $352,000 for a Jeff Koons sculpture of a silver gnome. We kind of love Charlie’s dad, particularly because he doesn’t pussyfoot around about using his kid like one might a yacht: “Vanity does come into it,” he told the Journal. “People never used to show off their boats and cars and houses and art, and now we can and that’s great. It’s nice to show off that my son likes art.” Indeed.

The Journal points to the wealth boom and the Baby Einstein set for spawning this trend, but we’re inclined to suspect something more sinister is going on. Perhaps, like on Heroes, the Children of New York are developing creepy superpowers. Which raises many questions: How did this happen? Hormones in the milk? Fluoride? We never trusted flouride! And what will The Children do next? Start working on Wall Street? Run for office? Most important, how do we stop them?

Small Collectors [WSJ]

The Children of New York Will Rule Us All