To his surprise, ad agency art directors and music promoters from as far away as New York, Seattle and Atlanta started stopping by.

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Much of the money to bankroll her art empire comes from the classified ad publishing company she cofounded in 1987 with John MacBain, her former husband.

FORBES: Queen Of Arts

The Mogau Grottoes are a Unesco World Heritage Site and represent the greatest collection of Buddhist art from the 4th to the 14th Century AD.

BBC: Digital Chinese caves preserve history

And whether they make record prices, or whether not a single paddle goes up for any of these starring works, the market will collapse only if we forget what really matters here: not the superlatives, not the ad-speak, not the money, but the art.

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"In the early days of television advertising, the audience accepted the ad character merely because it was a big deal to be on TV, " explains Warren Dotz, author of Meet Mr. Product: The Art of the Advertising Character and the upcoming Ad Boy: Vintage Advertising with Character.

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And Ohio Art seized on the publicity, creating a politically themed ad campaign and manufacturing blue versions of the famously red toy.

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Japan learnt the art of writing from China between the 5th and 7th centuries AD.

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But like the Coopers ad, a print version of the spot had already won the "merit award" in the One Club for Art and Copy'sOne Show.

FORBES: Advertising on the Edge