Welcome to Is This Available? by Dana and Maria, our weekly blast about something we find on Facebook Marketplace.
New York, New York
This week I’m hitting two classic themes by writing about something that is 1. out of my price range and 2. related to Spongebob Squarepants.
By out of my price range I mean that this painting will run you a cool 50k.
For those unfamiliar with the lore of “Bold and Brash” – it’s a painting that recurs in Spongebob. The curmudgeonly clarinet-playing Squidward paints this abstract self-portrait to impress a snooty Art critic. He doesn’t hit the jackpot financially, but the SpongeBob memelords of the writers room and beyond probably do.
Redditors aplenty fight to the death to declare that “Bold and Brash” is actually good.
My instinct was that listing this painting at such a price was a joke, so I snooped a little into the seller’s other listings to read the vibe. I learned that this was the only active listing at the time of my perusal, but our vendor Alex McDowell is 13/13 on five star reviews. And his past sales included cameras, sneakers, a “funky shelf” and generic tech equipment all at very reasonable prices.
Perhaps we’re dealing with a jock bro looking to make a quick pivot into the Art world? Someone sending out bat signals to the SpongeBob fans who are willing to shell out the equivalent of a down payment on a house to stand on business against “belongs in the trash” crew?
The seller did not respond to my request for comment and Squidward is still standing stark against the blue background, waiting for you to take him home.
Dana’s miss of the week: Pissed as all hell I didn’t snag this one. It’ll be worth millions someday.