The “serpentine flash of a dollar sign” in Andy Warhol’s striking canvas is the perfect opening to an exhibition that explores money through art.
“Money Talks: Art, Society and Power” at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford delves deep into this complex relationship; “money, after all, is in itself both an image and an object”, said Laura Cumming in The Observer.
One of the most “enthralling” parts of the show is the section that explores how art is transformed into coins and banknotes. A series of portraits of Edward VIII are on display and they demonstrate the complexity of this process; some were discarded for showing the King as too young or not wearing the right clothing. Edward himself favoured the “modern” designs of John Francis Kavanagh that were “tersely rejected” by the Royal Mint: “Mr. Kavanagh’s ‘Cubist’ designs cannot be taken seriously.” In the end it didn’t really matter as the King abdicated in 1936 and the coins were shelved.
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It is “startling” to discover that Arnold Machin’s plaster bust of Queen Elizabeth II is one of the most reproduced images in history, having appeared on billions of postage stamps across the world. The original sculpture is on display at the exhibition, alongside Martin Jennings’ “characterful” modelling of King Charles III’s head from 2023.
Elsewhere, it’s interesting to see how Elizabeth II is portrayed differently on banknotes from several Commonwealth countries: she appears “fatter, thinner, older, eyes more sunken or lowered” depending on the country.
Other highlights include Rembrandt’s etching “The Goldweigher”, with his “fatly bagged coins”; Banksy’s “Di-Faced Tenner”, in which he replaced the head of Elizabeth II with Princess Diana; and Susan Stockwell’s “dramatic” Victorian-style “Money Dress” stitched from banknotes.
The section on attitudes to money reveals a “fascinating” contrast, said Emma Duncan in The Times. While in Eastern art “money is delightful stuff”, with countless gods and goddesses shown alongside symbols of wealth, Western artists take their lead from the Bible and portray it as sinful and corrupt.
But the exhibition avoids examining some of the “big questions” that the relationship between money and art inevitably raises. Somewhat “oddly”, the Ashmolean – which renamed its Sackler Galleries in 2023 once the “lethal” consequences of the family’s opioid-funded fortune became clear – fails to explore the way wealthy people use their money to strengthen their reputations. And the final section on non-fungible tokens “left me completely baffled”.
Still, it’s an absorbing show and the museum is filled with beautifully displayed treasures. “I’ll take any excuse to go,” said Duncan.
Money Talks: Art, Society and Power, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford until 5 January 2025
