WASHINGTON – George Bergès thought .
Each Biden piece Bergès sold to buyers other than Morris went for less than $100,000, according to the lawmakers’ descriptions of the list Bergès provided. He said he never priced Biden’s work above six figures, contrary to statements attributed to him in 2021, which he blamed on an overzealous publicist. He said other artists on his roster have done better than Biden.
“If I look at the whole picture of this artist objectively, I would say, ‘OK, this is great that we got someone to do a major acquisition, but let’s look at the general response and what the value is,’” Bergès said. “I would have said, ‘You know, it’s not that impressive.’”
Bergès suggested it pained him to say so because he considered Biden a friend and a great artist with a story, and that selling art means selling both the work and the artist. He repeatedly likened Biden to Rocky Balboa, the fictional small-time boxer who gets an unlikely shot at the big time.
“Rocky is not supposed to win, but he wins. And that’s to me, America,” Bergès said. “And Hunter is not supposed to win. He should be dead. And he faced a crossroad in his life, which we all do when we’re all struggling with things in our lives. And he could have chosen the easy path, which is to keep going and die, or do the hard thing, which is to change.”
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(It’s worth noting that Rocky actually loses to Apollo Creed by a split decision in the first “Rocky” film from 1976, though it’s portrayed as a triumph to have made it to the final bell. Maybe Hunter Biden could do better; Morris told lawmakers he might make a documentary film about the president’s son.)
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) asked Bergès about the apparent contradiction that Biden’s name both helped and hurt his art sales. Bergès likened Biden to Sylvester Stallone – the famous actor who played Rocky and whose art Bergès has also sold – saying fame can be a help or a hindrance.
“So in that sense it was working against him but the same thing with Stallone,” Bergès said. “Can people look at his work objectively without that name overshadowing their ability to actually look to see if the art is good or bad? It can go both ways. And I rolled the dice on it and, yes, there was one big sale but I have to look at the totality of it.”
