Mayo 31, 2026

"What genuinely valuable artwork was lost in the Palisades fire? What efforts were made to save it?"

"Were guys running down the street trying to hold onto Picassos and Monets?"

That was my question upon watching this video at X about Spencer Pratt's loss of his collection of crystals:

Of course, I used the Grok tool that's right there at X. From the answer:
Ron Rivlin (art collector and Warhol gallery owner): He lost around 30 Andy Warhol works (including Campbell’s Soup Can prints, a hot-pink Queen Elizabeth II print, and “Myths” portfolio pieces featuring icons like Mickey Mouse and Superman) plus dozens of other pieces by artists such as Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, John Baldessari, and Kenny Scharf. His total collection exceeded 200 works, built around a home designed specifically to display them. The home was completely destroyed. 
Anthony Hopkins: Reports (including social media and secondary accounts) indicate he lost multiple Francis Bacon paintings, possibly including pieces from the Freud series, along with other valuables in his two destroyed Palisades homes.... 
Evacuation was chaotic and rapid due to the fire’s speed and mandatory orders. Many had pre-planned wildfire evacuation strategies (common for insured high-value collections), but the wind-driven blaze often outpaced them. 
Rivlin grabbed three Andy Warhols (all he could carry) as flames approached and his daughter urged him to leave. He returned later to rubble and ash.... 
No widespread reports of people dramatically running down streets carrying Picassos or Monets.... The fire’s intensity meant many returned to total loss....

Here's the NYT article about Rivlin, from January 2025: "Art Collector Says He Lost Warhols and Harings to L.A. Fire/Ron Rivlin said he had lost about 30 works by Andy Warhol — and dozens more by other artists — when his Pacific Palisades home was destroyed." Excerpt:

“It’s dust at this point,” Rivlin said on Monday as he returned to the site of his former home, which was built about five years ago, specially designed with his art collection in mind.

Now, it is a pit of rubble. Standing ankle-deep in the twisted metal and crumbled concrete, Rivlin searched for any remnants of the art collection he was forced to abandon.

There had been a hot-pink Warhol print of Queen Elizabeth hanging behind his desk, a set of Campbell’s soup can prints in his living room and a colorful portfolio of cultural characters including Superman, Mickey Mouse and Howdy Doody — known as the “Myths” — in his basement.

At that "Myths" link: "The Star, The Witch, Howdy Doody; Uncle Sam, Superman, Mammy, Dracula, Santa Claus, The Shadow; Mickey Mouse. All regular edition prints have diamond dust." Andy added diamond dust to something that became nothing but dust.

***

As God famously said: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

33 komento:

Dave Begley ayon kay ...

I wonder who Ron Rivilin and Anthony Hopkins support for Mayor.

What is so infuriating about that fire is that it was avoidable or preventable but for the incompetence of Karen Bass. She was the proximate cause of the destruction and now she won’t let people rebuild. She shouldn’t get more than 1,000 votes. How could people be so stupid?

Mike (MJB Wolf) ayon kay ...

Dave you have to give Gavin some credit, since it was his policy to not clear brush in state parks and the state ordered firefighters out of the park to prevent “trampling endangered plants.” That unextinguished underground fire smoldered for a WEEK during which people repeatedly reported smoke before the wind storm blew it back into conflagration.

Plus him continuing to say “Global warming caused the fire” when the arsonist is a Biden fanboy who wanted to burn rich people demands some recognition.

Money Manger ayon kay ...

Someone will have to walk me through how crystals get destroyed in a house fire. My intuition is that it would take much more than that.

Mike (MJB Wolf) ayon kay ...

IDK but crystal meth does burn easily.

narciso ayon kay ...

That would explode easily

rehajm ayon kay ...

It’s the fable of the slow boiled frog Dave. I watch Spike’s car radio and the guys on there most were lucky their houses were soared but their kids school burned. They enjoy their virtue from fundraising but will still vote for whateber ding dong the left puts up

narciso ayon kay ...

Its scargot at this point

Eric the Fruit Bat ayon kay ...

The internet informs me that dilithium crystals are not a source of power but instead regulate the annihilation reaction between matter and antimatter.

"Even burned and cracked, they're beautiful." -- Mr. Spock

TosaGuy ayon kay ...

Everyone has their thing that is meaningful to them. The fire destroyed it all for its victims.

Doesn’t matter what it cost or if it was an artistic masterpiece.

tommyesq ayon kay ...

Why would Hopkins own two houses in the same neighborhood?

Aggie ayon kay ...

"...Someone will have to walk me through how crystals get destroyed in a house fire...."

Intense, uneven heat would do that. While quartz is very durable, many other crystallographic structures are not; some are very fragile and will crumble if handled. I know nothing about the extent of his collection, but as a wood structure collapses there would also be the combined effect of impact damage on top of any heat-related damage. So yeah - if you're left with a pile of charred rubble, one can imagine that your rock collection has suffered, too.

I want to know who the campaign manager is. The message was very well done, I think he defused the 'New Age Whacko Airhead' line of attack with it. I think he was too well-prepared to have come up with this, off the cuff, and I don't believe all those A.I. ads are coming from a casual, random set of opinionated onlookers, either.

Randomizer ayon kay ...

Dave Begley said...
She shouldn’t get more than 1,000 votes. How could people be so stupid?
5/31/26, 6:40 AM


Even if Bass doesn't get the votes of dead people and Mexicans, the shambling zombies will vote for her.

Rustygrommet ayon kay ...

My daughters animation professor had a huge collection of art and memorabilia from his work with Disney and Hanna Barbera. Original hand drawn cells and artists sculptures. All one of a kind. All gone. That was the Altadena fire.

Rustygrommet ayon kay ...

When you vote Democrat you vote for mediocre.

narciso ayon kay ...

You vote for self immolation thats not argusbld

Iman ayon kay ...

Ask Karen Bass about her trips to Cuba to learn guerilla warfare tactics and strategies to overthrow the U.S. government, you POS members of the media.

The media are the walking dead.

narciso ayon kay ...

Its a curious gap no

narciso ayon kay ...

Look at vermin like tmz

Wince ayon kay ...

The days are bright and filled with pain
Enclose me in Bass’s mental reign
The time you ran was too insane
We'll meet again, we'll meet again

ed maguire ayon kay ...

Arnold Schoenberg’s entire archive was lost in the fire https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23n891j0mvo

TosaGuy ayon kay ...

“ When you vote Democrat you vote for mediocre.”

I would appreciate mediocrity by Democrats compared to what they are now.

Original Mike ayon kay ...

"What is so infuriating about that fire is that it was avoidable or preventable but for the incompetence of Karen Bass … She shouldn’t get more than 1,000 votes. How could people be so stupid?
"


Democracy as a method of accountability doesn't work when the electorate has gone tribal. The founding fathers were right to fear factions.

narciso ayon kay ...

If you wanted to destroy a city see seattle san francisco would you do anything different

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Rivlin said he lost them. And im sure the insurance company paid out. But did he really? I wouldn't be surprised if many of them were in his homes in Swtizerland or Israel.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Any art work sitting in someone's house in LA, is of dubious value and no great loss to the rest of us.

Achilles ayon kay ...

Money Manger said...

Someone will have to walk me through how crystals get destroyed in a house fire. My intuition is that it would take much more than that.

House fires get very hot.

Most crystal structures are not very durable can be damaged pretty easily by heat and smoke.

Achilles ayon kay ...

Rustygrommet said...

When you vote Democrat you vote for mediocre.

The best thing you can get out of a politician is mediocre.

That is not what you are getting out of democrats right now.

Leland ayon kay ...

Crystals can be formed from many kinds of materials. Peroxide crystals would be very flammable. However, most people think of ceramic, glass, crystals which should take a great deal of heat. But like the steel in the WTC, even ceramics will reach a temperature when they’ll melt.

Narr ayon kay ...

The Intertubes inform me that Anthony Hopkins is a bit of a composer. The sample I heard was . . . well, don't give up the day job.

todd galle ayon kay ...

Having worked in museums for 30+ years, this is a nightmare. I'm sure those folks had some curators on retention to catalog and do condition reports on a fairly regular basis, we did it yearly at my sites. While not in their league, I do have some art that is worth some scratch. I suppose I should catalog, photo, etc. and save it to 3 disks held in different locations. And up my insurance now that the house is paid off. Up the replacement value, and add a rider for art, firearms, coins, my WWI badge collection, etc.

Lazarus ayon kay ...

I suppose downtown LA is less in danger of wildfires. It would be a smart move to live there or closer in to the center if you have valuable art works.

Tina Trent ayon kay ...

He's telling a broad story about how all sorts of people are affected by Democrat perfidy and carnage.

Now he has the Witchen vote. He's doing fine.

Tina Trent ayon kay ...
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