If you’re a banker who specializes in managing the money of the insanely wealthy, how do you ensure that your client’s clueless children won’t squander the family fortune when it comes time to inherit? You teach them how to invest in art and stuff.

Bloomberg Business has the delicious story of a man called Money—Money Kanagasabapathy, apparently his real name—whose role at Citi Private Bank includes teaching what amount to art appreciation classes to the children of the one percent. That is, “appreciation” in the capital sense, rather than the aesthetic.

Under the tutelage of Kanagasabapathy and Christie’s VP Tash Perrin, rich kids studied various works of art, then participated in a mock auction to see whether they could adequately discern the value of the objects on display. Bloomberg’s Margaret Collins sets the scene:

One evening last month at Citigroup Inc. in downtown Manhattan, a group of 20-somethings spent $95,000 in a bidding war for a black-and white photo tapestry of the fashion model’s face. They were confident that the work by the prominent New York artist Chuck Close was worth the price.

That’s why there was a collective gasp when Tash Perrin, a senior vice president at Christie’s, revealed that the work didn’t sell when it was last auctioned in 2013.

The sale and money that the 40 participants used to bid with was fake, but the lesson on valuing and buying art was real.

Art is increasingly the exclusive domain of the rich, so why shouldn’t earth’s most valuable progeny be taught how to fuck around with it?

Image via AP. Contact the author at andy@gawker.com.