ALDI AND ART

My sister Heidi -- a real, live artist -- likes the idea of the German discount store Aldi selling original artwork, partly because of its egalitarian potential. In an e-mail she writes:

The success of the American art market depends on elitism.

Hard to be elitist if the art sits on the same shelf as bottled beer and canned peas, I guess. Even harder if anyone can just walk in, buy it, and then become an art owner.