Episode 17 - Jonathan Scull

Welcome To Art Lovers Forum.  This is a podcast conversation about pop art in the 1960’s and 1970’s that includes drugs, infidelity, dementia and everything else that makes a real juicy story.  If you are involved in art you may know some of this already, but today I have Jonathan Scull on Art Lovers Forum who is going to tell us all about Ethel and Robert Scull, the most talked about  Pop Art collectors for years. They dominated the press because of their unusual collecting and selling practices. Every major artist and gallery owner socialized with them because the Scull’s changed the business drastically which made art prices soar. The world was fascinated by them because of their rags to riches story.

Little did I know that a quasi-competitor of mine, was their oldest son, Jonathan Scull. At first he was a  senior editor for Stereophile Magazine. Then he started his own successful marketing company called Scull Communications, a PR company focused on the home entertainment industry. Most folks in the audio and music business knew Jonathan as a distinguished industry publicist.

I didn’t know that Ethel and Robert Scull were Jonathan’s parents. I never put two and two together. I think Jonathan recently mentioned it on Facebook. The minute I read that I knew I had to get Jonathan on my podcast to tell us more.  What was it like being a child of the two very fast lane folks who changed the world of collecting pop art? They were their own PR machines.

Before we  begin, let me reveal that Jonathan is now working on a new project with his business partner, Amy Penn, to tell the entire fascinating story of his parents called “Bob & Spike.” Spike was Ethel’s nickname. If you Google them, you will see what all of the excitement is about.