Hot Art, Cold Cash

Michael Van Rijn

Since the age of 16, when he drove in a clapped-out van from Amsterdam to Istanbul to pick up a consignment of sheepskin coats - later to be sold at huge profit - Michel van Rijn knew that schoolwork was no longer for him. Business was the thing - buying low and selling high, cutting deals and working the market. It was a decision that would have repercussions throughout the sedate salons of the art world for years to come.