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Digital Social Hour
Mark Russo: This Is Why Art Hits Different: Energy, Frequency, and Value | DSH #1801
00:52:02
Have you ever looked at a piece of art… and walked away feeling different—but couldn’t explain why? 👀 In this episode, Mark Russo breaks down the wild intersection of art, frequency, precious metals, and wealth—from blue-chip art outperforming the S&P, to AI-powered museum experiences, to why silver sculptures might carry an energy people can literally feel. We get into how elite collections are built, how posthumous originals work, why fractional ownership is changing access to legendary pieces, and what it really takes to create assets so rare they become a new alternative asset class. ⚡ Expect big claims, big stories, and a conversation that turns “art” from a luxury hobby into a serious conversation about value, meaning, and the future of collecting. What you’ll learn ✅ ✅ 🎨 How “blue-chip art” is defined and why it holds value ✅ 📈 Why art can outperform traditional indexes (and when it doesn’t) ✅ 🏛️ How AI could change museums into immersive experiences ✅ 🪙 Why silver ...
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- [00:00]
Mark Russo
Have you ever walked away from something and actually had a good feeling and not know why? If you play hard rock music, not to knock hard rock music, and you play it for a plant, the plant will weather and die, literally, like almost in an hour. If you play a musical or symphony or an opera, it actually blossoms. It's just frequency. It's energy. You believe it or not, that our silver sculpture, we're going to have the Grand Opera Singers of Miami program frequency into our sculptures. So the peace not only radiates energy, it radiates positive energy. It's like walking on the ocean. Have you ever walked on the beach and gotten an ion charge from saltwater grounding? Right. It's like. Like recharging your battery on your iPhone.
- [00:40]
Podcast Host
All right, guys, we got a really special guest here today. We got Mark Russo, CEO of Treasure Investments. We're going to talk art today, which is a very interesting topic, right?
- [00:48]
Mark Russo
Yeah, very. Really is. They're very interested, very excited to share it with you. The story and the journey.
- [00:52]
Podcast Host
Yeah, yeah. And historically, as an asset, it's performed very well over time.
- [00:55]
Mark Russo
Right. Blue chip artwork does perform quite well. By definition. Blue chip is artwork that's the most expensive, most valuable, has a history of high value sales at the auction houses.
- [01:06]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [01:07]
Mark Russo
And the annual appreciation statically is about 14%. So if you own a piece of a famous painting, like a Picasso, they go up. Just if you have it in your home or your museum, they go up by 14, usually about 14.2% annually for the last three decades. So it's. It's a great opportunity to invest. If you can have a chance to buy a blue chip piece of artwork like that.
- [01:28]
Podcast Host
Yeah. That's impressive. That's double the S and P, Right?
- [01:30]
Mark Russo
It's. It outperforms all the major indexes, and it has for the last three decades.
- [01:34]
Podcast Host
Wow. So when you got into art, was that kind of the main reason, you know?
- [01:37]
Mark Russo
No, I got in the artwork because I'm a designer artist myself. But I started back in the 80s, if you can believe that. I don't want to date myself, but I had a chance to go to an art show in New Orleans and represent an artist, and I said, so what do I get? He said, I'll give you 20%. So I had a little booth, was a New Orleans investment conference, and I sold 900 grand worth of dartwork in three days. And I thought, holy smokes, I made $180,000 in commission. This is back in the 80s. I thought, that's a lot back then. I can. It was a lot.
- [02:06]
Podcast Host
That's probably a million now, right?
- [02:08]
Mark Russo
It probably is, but I spent every penny the next day. But at the end of the day, I. It wasn't that I was a good salesperson, it's just that I knew the product and I was passionate about it and I had fun with it. And I got. I got to interact with people that were really like, wow, tell me about this and that eagle and this stagecoach or whatever it was that I was selling at the time. And I was just. They could tell I was excited and I was passionate, and that translated into a lot of sales and that kind of what started my. My career in the art world.
- [02:33]
Podcast Host
Wow. So about three decades you've been in it.
- [02:35]
Mark Russo
I've been in it for 38 years. 39 years. Wow. Long time. Really? Yeah.
- [02:40]
Podcast Host
And was it harder to identify the blue chip stuff back then, or what was your process?
- [02:44]
Mark Russo
Yeah, that was more commercial. Blue chip kind of landed in my lap in 2004 when I bought a foundry in Italy.
- [02:51]
Podcast Host
Okay.
- [02:52]
Mark Russo
And had a chance to buy a famous foundry back in Naples, Italy. And they would. They got access to some of the museums and laid plasters directly on top of marble masterpieces.
- [03:02]
Podcast Host
Wow. What's a foundry? For people that don't know it's called.
- [03:04]
Mark Russo
It was called Curozzi Famous Foundry. And they got access to mainly the archaeological museum in Naples, Italy, some access to the Vatican and other. The Villa Borghes, and they laid plasters on these marble masterpieces. And it's from those plasters that I. I owned and was able to produce posthumous originals. And that's kind of what got me into the blue chip part of it. Commercially, since the 80s, I built a 2700 plaster molds. We own the largest master mold collection in the world. 230 artists. And it's mermaids, golfers, ballerinas, stagecoaches, Western pop artwork, fantasy artwork. So it's a lot of different artworks, not just one subject matter or theme.
- [03:45]
Podcast Host
And how do you see the art space evolving now? Because we were talking before. You see like an immersive process?
- [03:50]
Mark Russo
Well, I think. Yeah. Well, yeah. Look, I love artwork. I'm an artist designer, and I like to collaborate with brilliant artists because everybody has their own unique skill set. And if I wanted to do a commission or like, have you, Sean, build me a golfer, and you're the best golfer artist in the world as you are building it. I'm saying, let's change that. Let's give it more character. Change the swing, change this look. So I'm Literally a producer, designer. But I've got the best hands in the world making the art piece. What's changing now in the art world is that people walk through a museum, they'll go through this or that or the Getty, and they'll look at a piece and they'll just kind of whistle right by it. And yeah, the artwork's amazing, looking at the Mona Lisa. But imagine if Leonardo da Vinci appeared on your phone or on a screen in front of you and told you why he painted that painting. So what we're doing, leading edge, it's, it's, it's literally tip of the spear, where we're. Now we're going to be doing some exhibitions where we're having the world's AI gather all the data on the artist, if they're, if it's post posthumous or modern artists, whether it be interviewing me or something where you walk by the piece, it activates on your phone via a QR code or just automatic action, and you can literally interact with the artist. A why the piece was made, the message, the purpose and the inspiration. Wow, that changes everything because no one's done that before. Imagine walking up to the David at the Galleria Accademia in Florence and having Michelangelo, it's pronounced Michelangelo, tell you why he created it. And he didn't even start it. There was two other artists that started and he took over, really. But just that information, because you leave with an impression. First of all, you feel good because it's frequency, it's energy, but you now you have an understanding of why it was made. So you literally walk away with an education that you didn't have 90 seconds before you saw that piece. So we're bringing that. It's cutting edge. It changes the dynamic of the art world in a major way. And we do, and we have the most beautiful artwork in the world. But now we're going to give it an education, an immersive experience that's never been done before. And where Treasure investments is the ticket for that.
- [05:37]
Podcast Host
Brilliant.
- [05:37]
Mark Russo
Can't wait to see how it's amazing.
- [05:39]
Podcast Host
Because I feel like I used to love going to museums, but now I don't get that same affection, you know?
- [05:43]
Mark Russo
No, I mean, look, younger generation isn't going to the museums. I mean, it's, they're not that big. So to get them back involved and engaged, you have to create that immersive experience which I think has been missing and up until now. I mean, we rendered Michelangelo via AI because he did self portraits of himself. So the image is There I turned him into a real person. And now it's gathering all the data from the world, all the archival information, and you could literally communicate with them. That data, we're compartmentalizing that. So if he could walk up to the Pieta, we actually cast the Pieta on pure silver. It's currently the largest silver casting in the world. But when you walk by the piece, Michelangelo will literally tell you why he, the reason, how long it took him, why he did it, who he did it for, the commission, who it was for all that information. But imagine talking to an artist that made that piece 500 years ago. That's something that's special and will leave that lasting impression. You'll walk away feeling good. That's what we're doing.
- [06:35]
Podcast Host
Yeah, you're doing a lot of stuff around metals, right? Even your business cards are made out of bronze.
- [06:39]
Mark Russo
Yeah, we, look, we've done primarily bronze. I mean, we've done thousands and thousands of bronze. In fact, we've done a thousand monuments where the number one bronze builder in the world, whether they're 60 foot eagles for casinos or life size horses for ranches, we do it all. What I love about precious metals, especially silver, is it's the most conductive metal in the world. It radiates energy, actually records frequency, which is amazing. Silver, silver, and actually is the. It's got healing properties. It's actually an antibacterial. But listen, people don't understand. If you walk up to and I can talk about all kinds of art exhibitions, have you ever walked away from something and actually had a good feeling and not know why? If you play hard rock music, not to knock hard rock music or like some heavy metal headbanger stuff, not that that's bad. And you play it for a plant. The plant will weather and die literally like almost in an hour. If you play a concert, musical or symphony or an opera, it actually blossoms. It's just frequency, it's energy. And a lot of people don't know that. So you believe it or not that our silver sculpture, we're going to have the Grand Opera Singers of Miami program frequency into our sculptures. So the piece not only radiates energy, it radiates positive energy. It's like walking on the ocean. Have you ever walked on the beach and gotten an eye ion charge from.
- [07:57]
Podcast Host
The salt water grounding?
- [07:59]
Mark Russo
Right. It's, it's, it's an ion pot. It's like recharging your battery on your iPhone. Our artwork will actually recharge you subliminally, subconsciously, an Ion charge with high frequency and positive energy. So that's a different read. We. I was talking about that at Art Basel in Miami just this last December was really fun, but we talked about frequency, and that was the whole thing that if you look at the right artwork, there's things that make you feel good. Artwork has got to make you feel good. I was at an exhibition in Naples years ago, and I walked into this room and I thought, this is. It was horrible. It was a exhibition. I won't say the artist, but it was cowheads in a glass box with flies. And I thought, this is. This is this. I walked away feeling not good. Yeah. And then you walk around the corner, you see this spectacular sculpture by Glycos of the Hercules. I'm like, that's amazing. So, again, it's what the message is. It's frequency. That was energy. And I like good energy. We like to produce pieces that have positive energy. It's a big thing.
- [08:51]
Podcast Host
I never realized how powerful art could be in that sense, in an energetic sense.
- [08:54]
Mark Russo
Well, art is the most known form of communication in humankind. It's really what I mean, wherever everything you. All the banners and your logo, this is all artwork. And so artwork is in everything. It's on every piece of paper. It's in every music. It's all art about art. So we are really. We love artwork. And I mean, you can't tell I'm passionate about it right now.
- [09:12]
Podcast Host
You devoted your whole life to it. It's cool to see you wear the artist hat, but also the business hat as well. I feel like that's a pretty rare mix, right?
- [09:18]
Mark Russo
Yeah. You know, look, artists. And I see a lot of amazing artists, but they're so focused on their artwork that there's a little bit of a disconnect. You have to have. You kind of have an entrepreneurial mindset. And I've seen some great artists that literally that I was going to buy some paintings from an artist that did all the autobahn stamps of these spectacular bird scenes. I mean, the most beautiful things you ever seen. And he was crying and this and that and the other. And I said, you were living in your ex girlfriend's bedroom apartment. I'm willing to give you all this money for these spectacular paintings. He's like, no, those are mine. You're stealing my soul. I said, no, I'm not stealing anything. I just want to buy your painting. So they get so passionate about what. And that's. That's the thing is, is that when you're emotional, it makes you A good artist. It's that emotion that drives that skill set, that talent.
- [10:00]
Podcast Host
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- [11:06]
Mark Russo
I'm a designer and artist, but I've been able to compartmentalize my wanting to monetize the art to cash. You got it in. The world's got. You got to pay your bills. Yeah, yeah. So I've been able to do that and use other artists and work and collaborate with artists. People ask me, what's my. The favorite thing I love to do in the art world. I said, you know, what is produce, Producing new images is the creative process. Whether I'm doing it myself or I'm working with another artist, that creative process is what really drives me. That's what's really fun about it.
- [11:30]
Podcast Host
Helping the artists bring their course.
- [11:32]
Mark Russo
Absolutely. And collaborations like change this, change that. We're doing a series of these biblical medallions that are inspired by Michelangelo, Battle of the Centaurs. But it's just I'm working with the artist and his name's Larryn Galerie. He's a genius and we're having a lot of fun with that. I'm also working with Lorenzo Medici, whose great, great, great grandfathers commissioned Michelangelo to do the Battle of the Centaurs and other medallions, which was an inspir for our new medallion series. Right now, our spiritual series called Victory.
- [12:00]
Podcast Host
So you're doing the spiritual artwork, too?
- [12:01]
Mark Russo
We do. Listen, we do it all. Whether it's again, Western, biblical, wildlife, cultural. We're doing a series of spiritual medallions called the Victory Angels Over Demon series that are, like, just spectacular beliefs of angels, like casting out these demons from heaven and these beautiful medallions and gold and bronze and pure silver. Another part of our model. It's very exciting.
- [12:21]
Podcast Host
That's beautiful. Is it hard for new artists to make a name for themselves these days?
- [12:24]
Mark Russo
It is. You know, I mean, and the ones that do and get a good connection with the gallery, they end up at the end of the day, mostly with nothing. A lot of great artists get nothing, really. A few points. We represent 230 artists exclusively. Most of them are past, but we work with some living artists. We have some artists in Hawaii. Steve Smelter, he's really great. Does these really fun, whimsical little pieces and. But again, you know, we like to help support artists, and if there's a good talent out there, we will take them to. We have 122 gallery partners, and we produce a lot of great artwork for those and put them out there. So there's an opportunity for someone with a great talent that will look at it, and maybe we'll sponsor them and get behind them. Got it.
- [13:03]
Podcast Host
So usually you like the more tenured.
- [13:05]
Mark Russo
People that you know, look, there's. We have some graffiti artwork on train cars we were selling through some of our gallery partners. So it could be graffiti artwork to artwork like Michelangelo. So it's everything. It's whatever looks good, resonates well, has a great message. It's positive and uplifting, and we usually get behind that in a big way.
- [13:22]
Podcast Host
Nice. Yeah. I want to start collecting it. I was looking at some Salvador Dali pieces. Yeah, Melting clock.
- [13:27]
Mark Russo
Yeah. That's interesting, though.
- [13:28]
Podcast Host
I feel like it'd be the melting clock.
- [13:30]
Mark Russo
I had somebody come with me that. They wanted me to put that on that where we have an artwork on 117 cruise ships in 52 countries, and one of those was the Dolly Melting clock. I couldn't pin it down, but that's an interesting story, but I'll tell you about that later. Exciting.
- [13:42]
Podcast Host
Yeah. I feel like for the brand, it would be cool to have, like.
- [13:44]
Mark Russo
That would be a great. That'd be a great iconic logo for you.
- [13:47]
Podcast Host
Yeah. For Digital Social.
- [13:48]
Mark Russo
Yeah, that'd be great.
- [13:49]
Podcast Host
Yeah. He's someone. His. His story was crazy, man. Some of these artists got some wild.
- [13:53]
Mark Russo
Yeah, there's interesting stories out there.
- [13:55]
Podcast Host
Yeah. I feel like that it adds to the art, though, right?
- [13:58]
Mark Russo
Well, for sure. People ask me what my favorite artist is, and I said, you know what? Probably Bernini and Michelangelo Bernini was actually. Did work after Michelangelo. But if you understand the artist, and when I got these licenses to do these originals from those molds made 100 years ago, I studied Michelangelo, actually went to the Casa Bonarante museum and actually got access to the Arc. I actually saw the contract of the David contract of when he got commissioned to do it. No way. But what's amazing is if you understand the artist and what they believe and how they're, what they, what they stood for. Michelangelo lived to be into his 80s and he was an artist of hope and inspiration. He wasn't some negative artist. And he taught, trained and teached and, and it was just amazing what he could do. But he was an architect, he was a painter, a sculptor. And if you look today, people don't sculpt like that. They don't carve David statues or pietas or centaur statues or like Bernini so that it's interesting. I love that baroque Renaissance period just because I know how hard it would have been to do that, to carve that out of Carrara marble. It's spectacular. But listen, I love all artwork. And again, whether it's a stagecoach or a mermaid or a piece, we have an artist named Bill Thoma that was a Disney imagineer. These amazing nudes and dragons. I thought I had a chance to buy this collection on the entire sets. Like, who's gonna buy dragons? We. We make we. I can't even build them fast enough. People love these beautiful dragons and these spectacular harlequin nudes that are like these Mardi Gras nudes. They're just spectacular pieces. But look, we love artwork. My whole team and staff at Treasure Investments Corporation loves it. And we always look for new talent and we find somebody we like, we get behind it and really promote and go crazy.
- [15:31]
Podcast Host
Nice. How much does a Michelangelo piece run these days?
- [15:34]
Mark Russo
Well, the David statue, which is near finished, is the world's first billion dollar art asset.
- [15:39]
Podcast Host
Whoa.
- [15:40]
Mark Russo
It was appraised by three different appraisers. It's hard to get a comp on that. You know, you can't even buy a Michelangelo. The Pieta has been appraised at $170 million in silver. It's one of one.
- [15:49]
Podcast Host
Wow.
- [15:50]
Mark Russo
And just for, you know, look, the marble was done 500 years ago. He made that. The Pope commissioned molds to be made on top of it because he knew war was coming. A disaster. If that thing falls over, it's going to turn into glass. It's just going to shatter into a million pieces. So a famous foundry in Florence was commissioned to Create these as the national archive of Italian art and artifacts that was there for preservation and protection. These. These Italian treasures. It's those molds that we tapped, bought the license to do one of a kind in precious metals, whether it be platinum, gold, or silver. And when use the actual mold, and they're not copies or replicas or surmillages, if they're from that actual mold made directly on top of that marble, they're considered a posthumous original because it's by the hand of the artist, it's untouched by anybody else.
- [16:35]
Podcast Host
Got it.
- [16:36]
Mark Russo
So these posthumously cast are. They're priceless. The Pieta 170, we have other pieces that are in that range. We have a spectacular collection of pure silver. Michelangelo. We did one called the Belvedere Torso by an artist named Apollonius. And now the David is nearing completion. It'll be done in about 60 days as the eighth wonder of the modern art world. And it's 17ft tall and pure silver. It's actually unbelievable. Look, I was at the foundry the other day. I was like, oh, my gosh. So it's really extraordinary what we're doing right now. And it's a new alternative asset class. These are spectacular pieces, and it's a true treasure to have these in precious metals.
- [17:11]
Podcast Host
That is cool. So the eighth wonder. So there's art wonders.
- [17:14]
Mark Russo
You know, we've been. That's what all the appraisers said. This is the eighth wonder of the modern world, is to do the David. No one even believed, by the way, you could do it, let alone in precious metal. You know, people said there's no way you can. I've heard 10,000. There's no way. You can't get it. You can't prove it's real. You can't do it. It's too much silver. You can't pour it. Just the engineering behind designing these things. And that metal, you can't. Silver is not like casting bronze. You have to have argon. There's all kinds of crazy things. But, you know, before we sat out and spent, I mean, tens of millions of dollars building these pieces, we had to get the provenance to show these really are war. How do you know that the Pieta is the Pieta that actually came from the mold? Well, the head of my board, member of my board, is the director and curator of the Museum of Michelangelo in Florence, Italy, that personally inspected those.
- [18:00]
Podcast Host
Wow.
- [18:01]
Mark Russo
So we have empirical provenance. They are listed in the official catalog resume. And we have. You can't contest that. These aren't true. And Genuine. They came from the actual plasters made nearly 100 years ago. So that was a very important part of it. But it's just special to do these things, to have you walk into our museum, it's like. Like beaming it. You actually walk out of there, like, with a high, euphoric high. There's so much energy, whether it's coming from the artwork or just the whole museum. But you walk out of there like you're literally intoxicated in a good way. It's just. You've got, you know, hundreds of thousands of ounces of pure silver and the greatest form of artist in the world. And it's looking right. It's just. It's almost. It creates an emotional effect I can't explain. People walk up. We unveiled that pieta a few years ago here in Vegas with Steve Forbes. And when we unveiled it on national television, it blanked out the cameras. We don't know how that happened. Whited out the cameras, and people ran up to it, and they collapsed, weeping in tears. Like, I've never seen anything like it. So that. That. That transcends time and space. That was a really cool moment. So I had to look back, like, wow, that's amazing. I didn't expect that. That was. I expect a lot, but that was pretty cool.
- [19:05]
Podcast Host
That's insane. You think it was from all the silver?
- [19:08]
Mark Russo
I think it's just the message, you know, that's Mary holding the crucified Christ. So there's a spiritual connection to that. But the bullion and just the glimmering shine on all the lights, it was just spectacular. And it's just. It radiates energy. I can't explain it. I mean, I can't even explain that.
- [19:24]
Podcast Host
Make art right again, because I feel like, like you said earlier, with my generation, there's not that same appreciation.
- [19:31]
Mark Russo
You know, there's not. You know, I'm down there. I was at, again, Art Basel, and I was there while I went through the art exhibition. I'm like, wow. Some of this stuff's kind of off the charts. In fact, there's a big sign says, do not show a reaction to this artwork or you'll be kicked out immediately.
- [19:43]
Podcast Host
What?
- [19:44]
Mark Russo
So, you know, I'm walking by, and some of this stuff's. You know, I. I don't want to knock any other artists, but, wow. I was. It was interesting.
- [19:51]
Podcast Host
But.
- [19:52]
Mark Russo
But listen, you know, artwork's got to have meaning and purpose. People buy artwork for me because it makes them feel good. I had a guy walk up to a show. I Was at two years ago in Scottsdale, in a wheelchair, old guy. And he walked up and I had this 10 foot tall, polished Ferrari stallion and his wife. He looked at wife, he goes, you want that? She goes, why? He goes, because it makes me feel good. And he handed me his credit card. I love that people buy artwork because it makes them feel good. I buy artwork, I go into galleries and say, wow, that's really cool. I want it. So. So you have to buy it if you like it. And that's. That's kind of the message behind that. So Art Basel was fun, but I got to meet a lot of young generational artists that were just in there doing their thing, whether it's graffiti artwork or whatever they were doing. And I love it because most of what I saw was original. And I like people that have their own concepts and ideas.
- [20:35]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Because a lot of people do try to copy, right?
- [20:38]
Mark Russo
Yeah, we get that all the time. You know, it's like, you know, there's a gentleman named Alec Monopoly. He actually got. I guess there was a complaint because he never got permission. Now they're behind him and he got the license. But. But I'm a client. I buy. I buy his work.
- [20:49]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [20:49]
Mark Russo
And he's down there having fun, painting all these fun things. And it's. That's. He's an original. He did that and now he's putting it on airplane parts. Brilliant. It's great. He's first to market, and it's original artists that are like that, that get after it can really make some really good headwinds and get in there and do really well.
- [21:04]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Shout out to Alec. I know his brother or cousin, Avery.
- [21:08]
Mark Russo
Yeah, no, he's great. I bought one of his little Donald ducks and all kinds of fun stuff. So, yeah, he's great, great, great artist. Original. I love what he does. And he's got a great, great career in front of him.
- [21:19]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Did we talk about the presidential sculpture yet?
- [21:22]
Mark Russo
Well, look. Yeah. So we did a piece that was presented to the Trump family that said Mar a Lago. It's the gold, official gold eagle, the presidential American patriot. I actually commissioned an artist, Lorenzo Gulieri, to do the piece. We built it together. I made. He. I made a studio in 2006, and I said, I got an idea. He's like, what's the idea? So said, well, look, in the back of a $1 bill, there's that. There's an eagle clutching arrows and there's that olive branch. I thought, wouldn't that be cool to make that in a sculpture. He said, oh, that's a terrible idea. So that's just the artist. I said. He goes, look, Mark, I'll make you the best eagle in the world, but you have to make the scroll. I said, me. So I spent the summer in his studio in Aurora, Oregon, and we built that piece and it became one of our top sellers. So very exciting. But it's the eagle clutching the arrows. Olive branch on Article 1 of the United States Constitution. And it's been just a great piece. It's symbolic of our country and the meaning of, you know, it's just spectacular. And we did that. We have it eight feet tall. We have them in bronze. We have it in various sizes. We have those on a lot of cruise ships in all the countries. Popular selling piece. And then we did one in gold, and we presented that to President Trump at Mar a Lago and just recently was presented one to him. It's now in the Oval Office. Wow. So that's a special thing. And it was fun. It's there. If you. So if you look over, if you're looking at him over his left shoulder, there's a gold eagle in that corner. I carried it there with myself, believe it or not. It was supposed to go to the Crown Prince, and he ended up getting a piece but bronze. And Trump says, oh, I want to keep this for me. This is. This is gorgeous. Let's keep it here. I said, the great idea. Let's put it right over there. In fact, my president of my company, Jason Dilling, said we should put it right underneath his left window. And sure enough, that's where we put it. So it's there. And we're going to do another piece on the other side. So he'll be flanked by two gold. And the other one I did myself.
- [23:07]
Podcast Host
Which is a lot of fun.
- [23:07]
Mark Russo
Wow. It's called America's anniversary, celebrating the 250th birthday of our country. It's an eagle on top of the Liberty belt with the flag kind of wrapped around. It's a really cool piece.
- [23:15]
Podcast Host
Must be such an incredible moment for you, because you had really humble beginnings, and now your artwork is in the.
- [23:20]
Mark Russo
Oval Office, you know. Yes, I did. I came from nothing and I had a tough childhood, you know, and def. You know, I had three jobs when I was 10 years old. Wow. I was 10 years old. I had a paper route. I was a sweeper boy for a drugstore and made 10 bucks a week and 50 cents a day with the paper route. And then I had a lawnmower and I mowed lawns in the summer. And what I made, I had. And what I didn't, what I had, my mom would take. So she would take it for groceries. So look, I know what it takes to make a dollar. And if I wanted something, it was me that was going to be able to attain it. I wasn't going to get it from somebody else. So I had that growing up. And that was an interesting lesson at a very, very young age. But I've always had, I've always wanted more in life. Life and not just money. I wanted to be healthy, happy, spiritually, all of those things. Kind of a well balanced wheel. And I've had a chance to talk to a lot of school kids and high school students talking about goal setting and how to overcome things that are nearly impossible because I've been up and down. I've had some great successes in my life and crashed and burned many times over my lifetime. And it's interesting to make it and then not have it. And you know, at least I knew how to make it. And I could always make. If you could take it all away again, it's fine, take it away, I'll get it back because I know how to get there. I know the path that you have to take and not an easy path, but I've been through some trials and tribulations and understand the value of a dollar and what it takes to actually get there.
- [24:40]
Podcast Host
Yeah, I've made and lost it all twice already at 28. I'm grateful for it because you could get caught up and comfortable, I think.
- [24:48]
Mark Russo
Oh yeah. I mean, look, I've been taken advantage of. I made, I invested in many. I've had 17 companies and some of them didn't work out so well. No, lost, you know, fortunes and you know, I had a lot of them. I've had thousands of people work from me over the years and you know, a lot of them are still with me now. But you know, look, life's full of interesting things. You have to learn from your mistakes and. But I'm all about goal setting and I love goal setting and building things and dreaming big. And I have a lot of unique sayings and a certain methodology and how to get there and it's, it's pretty successful actually.
- [25:21]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Yeah. Now you got a top three most valuable art collection in the world.
- [25:24]
Mark Russo
We are fortunate. Yes. We've built what we believe is now in the top three most valuable private art collections in the entire world. Yeah. We have over 4,000 original masterpieces in our museum wow. And it's comprised of master drawings, oil paintings, acrylics, my masters, many bronzes artists by Bernini and Giambologna, Delitano Canova, Michelangelo. I mean, the greatest artists. And these are not replicas. They are true posthumous originals. And, yeah, we really. We're really honored and proud, and so it's really exciting. Yeah, that's impressive, man.
- [25:56]
Podcast Host
So I guess at this level, what's. What's the goal now? Like, do you want to be number one or.
- [26:01]
Mark Russo
I kind of think we are, but I don't want to. You know, some friends of mine that have some other art collections. But listen, we're growing. The collection will continue to grow. But it's amazing because when we got this license to do these from those original molds to create these, it's like Michelangelo. Michelangelo is still producing, so we're doing some other works. He's called the Rebel Slaves. And some other pieces by Bernini is a piece that Bernini did called the David. We'll do that in pure silver. The Farnese Hercules by Glycos will do that in pure silver. So these. It's literally like having Jackson Pollock making another Jackson Paul, because we've accessed those plaster molds, and we could do a posthumous original pure silver. It's like Jackson Pollock's making a new Jackson Paul. That access to that mold is. Is the. It. Are the keys to the kingdom for us, and we're the only ones that can do it in precious metals. So we think the value of the collection will double in 36 months to triple.
- [26:51]
Podcast Host
Holy crap.
- [26:52]
Mark Russo
And now we're making it available to where people can buy into some of these pieces on fractionally and not just own a piece of it, but. But, you know, each piece of the artwork itself. There's a piece called the Battle of the Centaurs by Michelangelo. Spectacular piece. It's actually the only sculpture he ever kept through his entire life. And it's still in the museum of Casa Bonarate, which is the house of Michelangelo in Florence. That we did in pure silver is a one of a kind. And if you buy into that fractionally, not only do you own a piece of it and you get that appreciative value which is going up, but it's also its own cash engine. There's six different yields that that will produce in revenue streams for the owner of that piece. So that opens it up to where anybody could actually own a part of these great masters, which is. We're. We're revolutionizing that right now. We're very excited about that.
- [27:35]
Podcast Host
Yeah. It does seem like fractional ownership is. Is because it's so expensive to buy these.
- [27:40]
Mark Russo
Yeah. I mean, it's $45 million for that one piece, but you can buy into it for $5,000 and own a part of a Michelangelo and all of the benefits that come from that ownership. So that's a spectacular thing.
- [27:50]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Before in the past, that's never been a thing, right?
- [27:52]
Mark Russo
No. I mean, there's. There's a company out there that's doing fractional ownership, and there's people that you could fractionalize baseball teams or a racehorse. And they're successful, they're great models, revolutionary. And we're doing that. But taking it to the next level, where there's not just ownership, there's yields, and then that position that you buy becomes free trading. So not only do you get the benefit of that ownership, but the position that you buy becomes free trading. And then there's other dividend yields and revenue streams from that ecosphere, from that one particular asset. So that's pretty. It's exciting. And we're spearheading that right now. All along with that AI, we're opening up a new art leasing division where people can, for the first time, lease sculptures. It doesn't exist. It's too expensive. 1. But all of those art assets, you could literally rent a multimillion dollar art collection, sculptures, for a few thousand dollars a month and write it off. Who wouldn't want to have that? And then also have the immersive experience. Every time you walk by, the artist pops up and tells you why he made that artwork. So we're going to roll that out this year. We're also excited about that because we're anticipating a really successful big New York Stock Exchange IPO for the company Treasure Investments this year. So we're excited about that.
- [29:00]
Podcast Host
Leasing art, that's a great idea because it establishes credibility. If you could have some nice artwork where you're working, you know, sure, it's scalable.
- [29:06]
Mark Russo
And, you know, again, there's nobody doing it. We'd be like the. We're the only company in the world that would be providing statuary on a lease basis at a really reasonable rate, whether you're a dental office or a doctor or you have a beautiful lobby like you're building. Here's great building.
- [29:18]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [29:19]
Mark Russo
Void of art. You know, let's fill it full of some really cool pieces because like you.
- [29:22]
Podcast Host
Said, art is very inspiring. Like, when I was around that Dolly piece, like, it inspired me to.
- [29:26]
Mark Russo
Yeah, Dolly was a master.
- [29:28]
Podcast Host
Yeah. So being around art like that, I could just tell it would help me. That's, yeah, only a few thousand a month.
- [29:33]
Mark Russo
No brainer, nothing. You get to write it off and, and you know, it's, it's fun. There's a lot of little perks that come with that program we're putting together right now.
- [29:40]
Podcast Host
Yeah, let me know when that's off. Have you had the same success in other industries? Because I know you got other businesses.
- [29:45]
Mark Russo
Yeah, look, you know, I've been a successful real estate developer. I'm a pilot, I fly helicopters and I fly over land untraditionally, unconventionally. I buy usually property just outside the urban growth boundaries, mostly timberlands, big tracks, 100 acres to 1,000 acre blocks. And then I do light infrastructure, you know, but aesthetics, gated entrances, timber frame, water features. And then I usually sell the properties after that. I also own a storage company where we sell twice the space for half the price. So we're giving people affordability, if you will, in storage. I mean you pay $1000 for u haul rent. You could rent when I'm working our 40 foot, 2500 square feet for just 250 bucks a month. So we're doing affordable storage spaces. It's again about a quarter of really what it costs. And we're rolling out that out nationwide. That's, that's my weekend job.
- [30:34]
Podcast Host
And how did you identify that, that market? That, that was a good, you know, look.
- [30:37]
Mark Russo
So it's just in anything I, I see things like, wow, there's an opportunity there. So you know, my brother uses rental stores, say wow, you're paying how much for that? Like, why don't you just put a 40 foot cargo container on the ground and just rent one of those out. So we started looking at that and people with rental storages, they, they spend all this money for infrastructure, paving, they have to wait for permits. All we need is a flat piece of ground, a fence and then a 40 foot railroad container box because there's no permitting, it's a mobile platform. So you get out of all of those permitting processes and we started our, one of our locations, we had it up and running in 90 days. That's insanity. And the ROI is 100% annually. That's insane. So it's, it is, you know, you, you're lucky if you get, get a place that'll make 5 to 7% annually. Yeah.
- [31:22]
Podcast Host
For real estate. Yeah.
- [31:23]
Mark Russo
And you can't because they have to, they have to finance the land, they have to pay for permits, they have to build all that infrastructure, we just buy the boxes, drop them, paint them up, and boom, we're ready to go. And it's all automated. So we've made it. I think for people that really need storage, that are having challenging times, they can rent one of ours and save a ton of money and have safe and secure stuff with their private property. It's very exciting where we're going to roll it out nationwide wide.
- [31:45]
Podcast Host
I wonder if housing is going to.
- [31:46]
Mark Russo
Head that way too, you know, probably.
- [31:49]
Podcast Host
Because it's so expensive to own a house.
- [31:50]
Mark Russo
It is. Yeah, it is. It's really expensive. You know, everything's expensive. I look back on what I could buy for a dollar just a few years ago, it's like, wait a second, the money's getting divided. It's, you know, cash is getting killed. It's down 10 from last year. $100 is down. So that's worth 90 cents right now. A dollar's worth 90 cents, so. So, yeah, that's, you know, part of why we do a lot of stuff in precious metals. We did really well on our precious metal scope sculptures.
- [32:11]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Metals went up like what, 20 last year?
- [32:14]
Mark Russo
Silver went up 170.
- [32:16]
Podcast Host
170 it did.
- [32:17]
Mark Russo
Gold doubled. Yeah. Silver's at hovering right around 80 an ounce right now. You know, a year ago it was, it was 30 bucks. Wow.
- [32:25]
Podcast Host
I gotta get some metals.
- [32:28]
Mark Russo
Yeah, so we, we like that. We do a lot of our silver castings, our patriotic pieces in pure silver. We have a bull and bear. We do the usually thousand ounce castings and. But it's really fun to bring those things. When you transpose that raw bullion into a form of a beautiful piece of artwork, it's fun and you get a good denominat. So it's kind of exciting for us to produce those pieces.
- [32:45]
Podcast Host
Wow. Did you see metals rising like this or was it kind of just like a good timing?
- [32:50]
Mark Russo
You know, I started selling silver statues when I was in New Orleans in 1987 and I had a little elephant and I had a little eagle in silver and people just loved it. They loved the metal. It's beautiful. It's different than the traditional bronze, but it's fun. But, you know, a lot of people right now are gravitating towards color. In fact, we're working on a license with the Remington Museum in New York. Work, you know, the Frederick Remington, the Bucking Bronco. Those are great pieces and they want us to produce them for them, but bring them to color and full and full life color. So we're actually Going to bring those Remington. They're not like those black patinas that are like just. I call them Dairy Queen dipped cones. They're beautiful, but there's no color. When you bring them to life, it adds a different level of, I think, excitement. So we're going to be doing that with the Remington Museum, bringing all of the Remington pieces to life in real, vibrant colors.
- [33:35]
Podcast Host
That's cool.
- [33:36]
Mark Russo
Yeah, it's exciting. So we're look, we love the art world. We're in it. We love to do new things, work with people, artists, and promote, build. And we're just. This is the tip of the iceberg for us. So we're going to continue to produce great pieces from the great masters and precious metals. We're going to be doing some pieces in pure gold, which is really exciting. But again, and then to bring that immersive experience where people can really understand what they're looking at. To not just walk by a piece and go buy it, but to really leave, like, wow, I know why I made it. That's amazing. And when you understand that it does have a much more impactful emotional value to you when you look at an artwork, and it does inspire people, for sure. You walk by a museum, you walk out, you'll have 10 different ideas of doing something for your own self. I mean, it's just fun stuff. Bob Ross did that? The guy with the big plunge hair?
- [34:19]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Legend.
- [34:20]
Mark Russo
That guy's legendary.
- [34:21]
Podcast Host
I used to watch his videos.
- [34:22]
Mark Russo
I still do. He's great.
- [34:24]
Podcast Host
They're so calming.
- [34:25]
Mark Russo
They're wonderful.
- [34:26]
Podcast Host
I even had the Chia Pet.
- [34:27]
Mark Russo
They're relaxing. It's therapy. I love it. He was a good artist. He was original. He was. That guy was brilliant. Sadly, it was taken from him, but that's not by being a business person. He got, I think, had a little bit there, sadly, but, you know. But fun artist, great idea. It was original, which is why he was so successful at the time.
- [34:44]
Podcast Host
You own any of his paintings?
- [34:45]
Mark Russo
I don't, but I just saw that his first painting sold for $400,000. Something, you know, you could do. But. But we do have the Bob Ross painting kit in our studio. My kids and I like, play. We have fun around. We play with that.
- [34:59]
Podcast Host
He was great because he made it seem like you could get into art.
- [35:01]
Mark Russo
Art. He did the Joy of Painting, and he literally showed you how to paint trees and seascapes and mountains, and it's fun. That was a really fun thing. And it's the creative process. It makes people feel good. It's relaxing. It's therapy I really enjoy. It's fun stuff.
- [35:15]
Podcast Host
Absolutely. You've also had a lot of impact with charity. You've donated over $100 million.
- [35:19]
Mark Russo
We have. Look, yeah, we've done a lot. We. I started the business model in 1998. And it's funny, I was at a neurosurgeon called me and said, mark, you got those two eagles fighting over Sam. I said, yeah. He goes, I want to donate it to a charity. I said, oh, oh, okay. So I sell him the piece. And he said, hey, can you put together a reader board of the artist with the Pope and Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan? I said, yeah, sure. And he goes, good, because I'm going to donate it to this charity. And you want to go? I said, sure, I'll go. So I. I sell the sculpture to this doctor. He donates to this charity. And I watched the bidding. It's. You know. And the piece was a $20,000 sculpture. Of course, I didn't sell it to him for. I made it for less than that because. And that was a good price for me. Yeah. And I watched this thing sell for $63,000. But it's not that it sold for 60. It was like, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 55. And it was 20 different bidders that hit this thing over $50,000. I was like, wait a second. I said, there's a million bucks. 20 people bid on that eagle over $50,000. That's a million dollars of concentrated buying power on one sculpture that they had no idea they'd be bidding on. I thought, wow, human behavior 101. 1. So I go, imagine. I was like, wait a second. Gosh, I have all this access to all this great artwork. What if I built a business model where I donated artwork to a charity with some formula? There could be something there. Well, nine months from that date, I had 172 employees, and I was donating a thousand to 3,000 statues a month to charity.
- [36:47]
Podcast Host
Wow.
- [36:47]
Mark Russo
And we were making millions a month. It was amazing. And. But as mat as we were making, we were giving that much away. So the model was. If you were having a fundraising charity event for whatever cause you believed in, we would provide you access to a treasury of beautiful artwork, whether it's a golfer or a ballerina or whatever it is. Wildlife statue. And we would ship it to you free of charge, give you all the material, simply place it in your event, and we split the revenue. 50. 50.
- [37:11]
Podcast Host
Wow.
- [37:11]
Mark Russo
And a lot of times they said, well, why don't you just Give it to us. If I gave it to you, I have no way of being able to do it again. It stops there. But getting something back, we make a little bit. But I can perpetuate it and have more artwork for you next year. Really? I stopped counting. At 60,000 auctions and at 100 million raised for nonprofits, that is such a.
- [37:29]
Podcast Host
Brilliant model because it's a win win.
- [37:30]
Mark Russo
It was a win win. And you know what's amazing is we raised money for people that needed it. American Cancer, Doernbechers, Boy Scouts of America, Boys and Girl Kids Philharmonic Kidney Foundation. I mean, you cannot believe the nonprofits, wildlife preservation charities that needed that money. And we got it. I mean, I mean, I mean, we sent one piece, one little golfer. They sold for 100 grand. We had a lot of hundred thousand dollar pieces sell and they got money that was precious. It's half of something for nothing. Yes, we got some money back, but it allowed us to continue to grow that treasury of artwork to continue to give to those nonprofits. And we do it to this day. It's raised. We stopped counting. But it's just, it's phenomenal. It creates revenue that otherwise wouldn't been there for the people that needed. And it's just a phenomenal, phenomenal thing. I'm just really honored to be here.
- [38:14]
Podcast Host
I went to my first charity auction. Steve Aoki, if you know him, him, he's like a EDM artist. But I'll tell him about this. Maybe you guys can work.
- [38:22]
Mark Russo
Yeah. Again, if there's an event that we can be helpful for and be there, we will provide access to our treasury of spectacular pieces and provide them at no charge. And when they sell we whatever they sell for from $1, we share 50. 50. And it usually works out really well for everybody.
- [38:38]
Podcast Host
That is brilliant. You're good at coming up with these interesting business models.
- [38:41]
Mark Russo
I see opportunities in a lot of things, you know, whether it's a real estate company or buying raw land or, you know, storage companies. But my passion is world and I love it. I've had great successes and great failures in it too. You know, I've made some big mistakes on. I bought a robotics company and 3D scanning and we had millions of dollars worth of printers. But I couldn't scale that part of that business model. So, you know, you learn by those mistakes. But we finally found kind of the legs to the table that are strong. All of our profit centers. And it's really exciting what we're doing now, especially with our. We build three or four monumental Projects a week. That's pieces that are life size or whether they're battling elk or a 60 foot eagle. We do three or four massive monument projects every week. And whether there's something that we create or it's your idea, I get commissions all the time. Can you build this? It's like, yeah, sure, we could do it for you, no problem. And that, that's fun because we get to take your vision and turn it into reality. If you want something spectacular or whether it's a wildlife image or it could be for anything really, your logo for your company, we can be happy to do that for you. And again, it brings your vision to reality and we produce that really fast. Fast. And it works out to do that. It's fine. That's, that's the creative process that I love so much.
- [39:48]
Podcast Host
I know with the monuments you said earlier a lot of pressure, right. If it falls, it's going to shatter. How's that happen?
- [39:52]
Mark Russo
Well, that's the marble masterpieces. That's in the Vatican. Our stuff's in distraught. You could drop it off the Empire State Building. It's not going to really. They're, they're tough. We build and we build big grizzly bears. In fact, we sold 3212 foot grizzly bears to a car wash company in Seattle. So if you ever up there see those bronze bears, we built those, but those are pretty tough. Okay. Bronze, yeah, they're heavy. They weigh tons and tons of. But, but yeah, no. The marble pieces in those museums, those are the reason why Pope Pius had the commissions done in the 20s and early 30s was because of looming war and disaster. If those things fall over, and if the David fell over and hit the ground, it would shatter into a million pieces. That artwork is lost forever. The only way to preserve and protect it is to lay a plaster. There's a negative of the positive. That negative is that the founder that we have the license with in Florence, Italy, which is special.
- [40:40]
Podcast Host
Other than your museum, what are your favorite art museums?
- [40:43]
Mark Russo
I like the Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy.
- [40:46]
Podcast Host
Okay.
- [40:46]
Mark Russo
Because it's all the unearthed artifacts from Herculaneum, Ercolano and Pompeii, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and whether they're furniture or dental instruments or an artwork. And we have all of those pieces, by the way, when I bought that foundry in Naples, all of those artwork, 1600 different pieces. We have surgical tools from thousands of years ago. We're actually making shadow boxes right now of all those surgical instruments. And what they with. Well, you did not want to go to the dentist 2000 years ago.
- [41:14]
Podcast Host
I've actually seen videos of like how they did cavity removals. Yeah.
- [41:19]
Mark Russo
I mean I, Yeah, yeah. I would not want to have to see the dentist back then, but I think that's a beautiful. And I've walked the streets of Pompeii and seen the frescoes on the walls. And that's, that's, that's amazing that, that when that thing buried that pyroclastic flow, buried that city, it preserved that froze time in, in space. And that artwork we have, I think that museum in Naples Nipples is spectacular because you get to see the eruption, you get to walk the city and you get to see those marble masterpieces. Glycos is one of actually was stolen by Napoleon. It's this 14 foot statue of the Hercules. Just unbelievable.
- [41:52]
Podcast Host
Wow. And he stole that.
- [41:53]
Mark Russo
He stole it. He took it to France and then it was returned to the museum afterwards. He also stole the Bruges Madonna too, but he liked to steal stuff.
- [42:00]
Podcast Host
Napoleon.
- [42:02]
Mark Russo
But you know, those artworks are. You walk into that museum and see all these beautiful pieces in marble and then you see the artwork. And that's. I think that's one of my favorite. Yeah.
- [42:09]
Podcast Host
I got to get out there. I've never been to Italy actually.
- [42:11]
Mark Russo
My favorite is my museum. But that's why I said other ven. The Archaeological Museum of Naples is probably my second best pick. Yeah. And the Vatican, because you can't. That's just amazing there.
- [42:20]
Podcast Host
So they have a museum in the Vatican?
- [42:22]
Mark Russo
Well, the Vatican itself is the, is the Museum Vaticano. It's the Sistine Chapel. And all of that is just spectacular. I mean, all the works by Bernini and Michelangelo and Raphael and Rubens, those are those, the paintings and the artwork in there, that's the most spectacular collection of artwork that exists on the face of the earth that could never be rivaled.
- [42:43]
Podcast Host
Yeah. I really love history. That was always my favorite classic.
- [42:45]
Mark Russo
It's amazing. You know, when you like when you dig into these artists and we're doing these in silver and you learn who they were and you understand the history, that's it. It adds more meaning, at least for me. And you know, so it's, it's, it's a, it's a fun thing. I'm. We're really in tune with things that are really exciting and we're going to bring that to life. We actually have a chance to do some things with a. A big me. I can't say the museum, but there's a very famous museum in, in south beach and we're negotiating with them to bring a. A permanent display or at least a 36 month exhibition to South Beach. Wow. To bring these pieces to life with that immersive AI experience where people cannot just see the artwork, but actually understand the meaning behind it.
- [43:23]
Podcast Host
What's your opinion on. I know AI and art. There's like mixed things about it.
- [43:27]
Mark Russo
Well, I think that a lot of the artists were like these Van Gogh start coming to life and that. Interesting. I mean some of the critics say, oh, it takes away from the meaning. It's like whatever. Look, I. You know, the painting's the painting. You're never gonna take away from that. But if you actually get a talk to the artist and understand that and the artist comes the AI that's cool because you can learn something. Now they're taking these paintings and they're morphing. And where I saw this really cool thing where these, all the Van Gogh, you see the ping and then it starts coming to life and the people start walking off the cameras. That's. That's okay. I mean, that's cool. I think it's kind of cool. But critics go, no, my gosh, you're stealing the spear and the soul of. It's okay. And that's fine. But I like it because you can actually interact with the artist. The AI takes all the known data on that artist and it composes it where you can like understand why Van Gogh did those paintings. What was the meaning and purpose behind that? So for me, I like AI because I can talk to you about why I made the anniversary piece for America. I'm a patron, I love our country. So if I'm not there. But wouldn't that be cool if you could talk to me about why I made that sculpture or why I commissioned an artist to do a piece or talk to Larry and Galerie to see why he made. Made this spectacular stage coach. But I think going back in history, when you can talk to Bernini in his likeness and understand that. So we're working on that. So you actually it's specific to that piece. So you can say why What. When did you finish that pizza? Why did. How long did it take you? Why would you know? What do you think about being it done in silver? And if you understand it, he wanted to perpetuate his artwork. For him it was okay to share and teach and learn. So that is a very important thing. With provenance of understanding the artist. Intelligence, intent. He wanted to share his artwork with others and was happy about letting other people learn his methodology and how he did It.
- [45:03]
Podcast Host
Right.
- [45:03]
Mark Russo
So that isn't thought. People don't learn that in school today. I don't even know. I don't know what these kids are learning. It's different stuff. So really, art. I'm trying to bring that back. This is a revival of the Renaissance and artwork, where you get to see the material object itself, but get all that. AI immersive experience, that really. I think just. It's an exponentiator. It's a force multiplier. Fire.
- [45:23]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Renaissance. It sounds like that's your favorite art period.
- [45:25]
Mark Russo
I. I mean, that's tough to beat that look. You know, I like all kinds of artwork. I love some abstraction and stuff. Some of the stuff gimmicky, you know, I won't say what, you know, but bananas to duct tape to a thing where you eat it. You know, that's. It's funny and all that, but, you know, that's. Is that a pieta? No. This doesn't compare. I'm sorry.
- [45:43]
Podcast Host
What do you think of Banksy? I just went to his museum in Australia, I believe Brisbane.
- [45:47]
Mark Russo
He's originally original, and he's original and I listen, my hat's off to him. Brilliant. I mean, the. The things he comes up with when he did that painting and it was. It shredded.
- [45:57]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [45:57]
Mark Russo
That's genius. That guy's in. I mean, he used to go into museums and hang his artwork up in museums and sneak out. I mean, that's like. That's next level stuff. I mean, he deserves everything he gets in a good way because he's original. I love originality. I don't care what the subject matter is, as long as it's got something that's positive. Right, Right. But when artists are original, like Banksy. It's not his real name. I know his real name, but that guy's a brilliant guy. Genius.
- [46:21]
Podcast Host
Yeah. I. I'm so fascinated with the marketing behind it, how he's anonymous. And I feel like that adds to the alert.
- [46:25]
Mark Russo
It's a great thing.
- [46:26]
Podcast Host
It is. I've never seen an artist take that approach.
- [46:28]
Mark Russo
You know, it's. It's brilliant. I mean, it's wonderful. I mean, his stuff pops up and he's got these little. You know, I mean, wherever he is, it's always a surprise. So. Wellth thought, well done. And I love his artwork. I. I love his artwork.
- [46:40]
Podcast Host
You own any of his?
- [46:41]
Mark Russo
I. I had some pieces in my museum that we thought maybe know. But, you know, it is what it is. It's okay. They're not there anymore.
- [46:48]
Podcast Host
Does that happen often? In our world, like, oh, yeah.
- [46:51]
Mark Russo
Especially with modern artwork, you know, we've had a little taste of that ourselves where we thought something might have been what it was and it wasn't. So, you know, very care. You got to be careful with modern artwork. You know, everything we have now we is proven, validated, authenticated, empirical provenance. But sadly for artists like Basie, as talent as he is, there's people out there that are. That are counterfeiting. That's stuff.
- [47:12]
Podcast Host
Because he's anonymous. You can't even announce that it's fake.
- [47:14]
Mark Russo
They have a way it's. I forgot what it's called. They have. It's pest control. They have a validation.
- [47:20]
Podcast Host
Oh, they do?
- [47:20]
Mark Russo
Yes. And you can show your artwork and they'll send it in and they'll validate it for you. Okay. Which is brilliant, by the way. And I think it's called pest control. And we actually had some artwork in our museum that we ran through and it came back what we didn't think of what it was. And it's like, okay, so we got out of there immediately. But at the end of the day, day artists like Banksy, because he's so original, he will be copied. And a lot of other artists. Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Keith Haring, These. All these guys are getting copy. That's sad. It's a sad story because they were. They're. They were brilliant. They were original. And they're being copied by people that aren't. Have bad ethics. It's a sad deal.
- [47:56]
Podcast Host
This sucks because you're spending all this money and then it's a fake.
- [47:58]
Mark Russo
It is. It's tough. I mean, you know, and even now it's like, authenticators, maybe. So maybe I can't say yes. And so. So you get these. You pay all this money for authentication and no one will really say, say, I can't. Sure. You know, even if it's real, they'll say, oh, maybe so. I mean, like, it's like, okay, so.
- [48:13]
Podcast Host
Because they don't want to get sued if it ends up being fake.
- [48:15]
Mark Russo
You know, there's so much. I mean, people. Even some of the big, biggest art dealers in New York selling what they thought were original Jackson Pollocks. And like, oh, now they're not. So, you know, in fact, a lot of the artwork in museums, they say that they're not getting them carbon dated or spectral analysis. And I've had that done on some paintings in our museum. We had. We hired one of the number one authenticators in the world and everything matched up. But there's like, one color of paint that didn't quite match the earth, like. Huh. So at the end of the day, you look at all the Jackson Pollocks that are out in those museums, if you ran all those things through real analysis, I would not want to. They wouldn't let you do it. Now. Not to say that they're not. I don't want to put anything like out that out there. But, you know, with. Now they have some really advanced ways of identifying the paint, the year, the dates. That. That's been. A lot of those people's like, no, no, it's here. Just. We'll just leave it alone.
- [49:03]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [49:04]
Mark Russo
And I respect that. But sadly, those artists, as geniuses as they were, there are people that have bad ethics that are out there making them that are not genuine, which is a sad story, because that hurts everybody.
- [49:14]
Podcast Host
Yeah. My mentor had to hire FBI forensic investigators to verify his artwork.
- [49:20]
Mark Russo
Yeah.
- [49:20]
Podcast Host
Like, it's intense.
- [49:21]
Mark Russo
It is. It is.
- [49:22]
Podcast Host
Because you never know what people are trying to sell these days.
- [49:25]
Mark Russo
No, that's not so Good thing for us. We've got for our product right now. It's. We authenticated. It's in the official catalog resume and their sculptures, and it's exciting. So we're. We're excited about that. And yeah, we're just really stand behind our product and all the things that we do. We have 2700 different images of artwork from 231 artists, and we sell them all worldwide. And again, whether we actually did a really. I actually did a big bitcoin statue.
- [49:49]
Podcast Host
Oh, yeah?
- [49:50]
Mark Russo
Yeah. Big bronze. Gorgeous.
- [49:51]
Podcast Host
You're a big bitcoiner.
- [49:52]
Mark Russo
I did a bit. I, I. My. My crypto portfolio isn't doing quite what it should be, but I do have a really cool bronze bitcoin statue.
- [50:02]
Podcast Host
Yeah, bitcoin was. Wow. Who would have thought?
- [50:05]
Mark Russo
No, it's amazing.
- [50:05]
Podcast Host
$100,000 now.
- [50:06]
Mark Russo
It's. It's just crazy.
- [50:08]
Podcast Host
I mean, it was like a hundred dollars, what, 15 years ago.
- [50:10]
Mark Russo
It was like, since.
- [50:12]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [50:12]
Mark Russo
I mean, you know, I think it kicked off in 07, and now that's one of the greatest climbs of value I've ever seen in mind. Brilliant. That's genius. I mean, who. The guy that thought that up? I mean, that's just unbelievable. He created. That's just. It's almost hard to comprehend how somebody could put that together.
- [50:26]
Podcast Host
Now a lot of people are buying art with crypto. Crypto, sure.
- [50:29]
Mark Russo
Yeah. We accept crypto, too, for our collections, which is exciting too now.
- [50:33]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [50:33]
Mark Russo
Yeah.
- [50:34]
Podcast Host
Well, Mark, this was great, dude. I Can't wait to see your museum in Washington one day.
- [50:37]
Mark Russo
Oh, yeah, it's. It's a private museum. We open it up for appointment only and we were happy to show it. It's. It's amazing. It's over 4, 000 original masterpieces.
- [50:45]
Podcast Host
Wow.
- [50:46]
Mark Russo
It's spectacular. It will take your breath away. I think it rivals many museums in Europe and we're really honored to be able to curate that collection and continue to grow it.
- [50:55]
Podcast Host
I love it. How else can people support you, find you and.
- [50:58]
Mark Russo
Well, I've got an Instagram site. I'm not very. But it's Markruso tic. And we have, you know, we're out on YouTube and we do a lot of shows. We actually are going down to the big Barrett Jackson auto event. We're down there. One of the platinum sponsors for that. We have a huge exhibition there and we have a lot of our monuments there and iconic car symbols and bronze and polished metals. That's in Scottsdale, Arizona. 17th through the 25th of January. Then we're going to a really big fun wildlife preservation event in Nashville, Tennessee. Safari Club International. We'll have a really big exhibit exhibition there. But we have 120 gallery partners and across America. But listen, we are, we, we love what we do. We're excited. We love to help encourage and support other artists where we love philanthropy and supporting charities that need the resources. And we're there and we're proud to stand behind that.
- [51:48]
Podcast Host
Beautiful, guys. Get some art. That's the moral of the episode for me. Great. Check his stuff out, guys. We'll link everything in the video. Thanks for watching. Peace.
- [51:55]
Mark Russo
Thank you.
- [51:56]
Podcast Host
I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.