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Look beyond the obvious to understand an artwork

Sir, Gillian Tett (" The lost art of finance ", March 15) rightly argues that a more creative approach to finance would be beneficial and that art can be a useful means of gaining a fresh perspective. However, her contention that visual artists have thus far ignored the subject is absurd.

Photographer Ashley Gilbertson's series The Great Recession in New York (2008-2010) directly depicted the immediate aftermath of the Lehman Brothers collapse, and the ongoing struggle and resilience of New Yorkers. Justin Richel painted a series of works between 2004 and 2007 that explored the excesses of an overdeveloped consumer economy, and the abuse of the American homeowner by the self-interested political classes - prescient works that proved more accurate about the forthcoming financial deluge than did the overwhelming majority of financial commentators.

A painting need not depict a pile of gold to be about money, but a viewer must often make the effort to look beyond the blatantly obvious [i.e. = beyond "face value"] in order to understand an artwork. Perhaps instead of suggesting that bankers pick up paintbrushes, Ms Tett could take a closer look at the multitude of artists who are already so effectively addressing financial issues, and encourage her audience to do the same.

V Preston and S Schuster,

Cultural Capital Consultancy,

St Prex, Switzerland