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Has Hunter Biden every done anything that wasn’t premised on his father’s position? If so, his turn from big-time deal-making to artist is not one of them. Today the NY Times notes that Hunter’s art never did sell for the prices some were prepared to charge. Will they sell at all once his father leaves office?

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Now, as Joe Biden leaves the White House and his son faces the prospect of prison, there are questions as to whether Hunter Biden’s art market, which never reached the heights first projected, is fizzling…

“Over time, I think his market will probably wash away,” said Charlie Horne, president of Gurr Johns, an art valuation and advisory firm. “His cachet will be short-lived. I don’t think he’s ever gotten real traction.”

Just 10 people bought Biden paintings from the Georges Bergès Gallery that had been representing him in recent years, according to testimony at a Congressional hearing earlier this year. One of them, Kevin Morris, a Hollywood lawyer and a friend of Mr. Biden, bought 11 works for $875,000, or more than half of the roughly $1.5 million gained from the sales, according to the testimony, in January. There have been no indications of any sales since then.

Kevin Morris is the friend who pushed himself to the point of insolvency to fund Hunter’s legal expenses. So the fact that more than half of Hunter’s sales went to him probably shouldn’t count toward determining his real value in the marketplace. 

In fact, it’s worse than that. Two other purchasers included a co-owner of the gallery that represented his work and an LA commercial real estate investor who is well connected to Democrats and served on a commission created by President Biden. If you add in those two sales to the ones by Kevin Morris that accounts for $1.1 million of the $1.5 million total. 

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Ultimately, a piece of art is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it and that may not be much at this point. 

Todd Levin, an art adviser, said he thought Hunter Biden might have a tough time drawing attention going forward. “Nobody is taking his art seriously,” he said…

Mr. Horne, the art adviser, was not as optimistic. He said he felt that Mr. Biden’s market had been buoyed by his proximity to a celebrity like his father, and will be more affected by the end of the Biden presidency than the criminal sanctions he faces.

“His father is no longer relevant in the maelstrom that is politics,” Mr. Horne said. “And I think that will hurt the son’s art more than the convictions.”

I honestly don’t think Hunter’s art looks all that bad. I mean, it’s not anything I would buy, but if you like that sort of modern art his pieces are at least colorful. But that said, I do think there’s no way he’d be getting the kind of money and attention he has been apart from his name and the connections that brings. Could I see some of these selling for $2,500 bucks? Sure. Are any of them worth $50,000 or twice that amount. I don’t think so.

Once Joe Biden leaves office, Hunter is going to have to drop his prices substantially to stay in the market at all. And even then, I think people would be buying his stuff as a curiosity, i.e. something connected to someone famous.

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Hunter has said that he doesn’t care about making money from his art and if that’s true then it shouldn’t matter to him. Heck, if he really just cares about the work, he could paint under another name and forbid anyone to reveal his secret. Then if he can still sell a few pieces (at greatly reduced prices) he’ll know people are really buying his art and not just his family name. I’m not sure Hunter Biden has ever taken that road but now might be a good time to start.