@SuricrasiaOnline think about it as an investment property like real estate. it's gross, but that's how they think about it! a place to hoard their money with certain rights conferred. it's not really about the art. when it *is* about the art, it's about social status. "I have this thing that someone else can't have." but ultimately that is the same reason real estate is real estate -- exclusive ownership, coming down to money and power
@SuricrasiaOnline perhaps a little less cynically: good art makes the body thrum. and there is a lot of art that simply can't be copied -- a copy of a painting just does not hold a candle to the original. It's hard to describe in words, but I understand wanting, say, a specific original painting in my home all the time so I can look at it and experience that body thrumming feeling whenever I want.