I once billed a client $150,000 in legal fees for the acquisition of rare and valuable art. To be frank there wasn't much work to be done, it was mostly negotiating the sale and purchase agreement, reviewing the insurance policy and some help with the import permits.

Not included in the invoice above was travel to Europe to accompany my client, attend private showings, being entertained by dealers and staying in amazing hotels.

I don't consider myself poor but I had no idea about this world until I was engaged in it.

The world of high end art is luxurious, snobby, superficial, exclusive and staged. The value is artificially set by a small group of people but the vast industry is full of middlemen* making a percentage of high networth indulgence.

The end result of the millions spent was a painting which I am prohibited from naming, placed high above my client's office which I still don't understand.

* The parties involved in the sale include; dealers, brokers, appraiser & valuators, subject matter expert consultants, insurers, detailed security, shipping and logistics agent ( it cost roughly USD$30k to ship to Indonesia, and even more to insure), frame crafters, lawyers, the company that packed said painting for shipping (forgot what they were called), and a company that managed the entire aquistion experience outsourced by the dealers. I am sure there were more, such as ground transport and the wine expert.

Most of them were contractors or referrals by the dealer. They all made for a memorable experience and likely made a lot of money.