Art: Wheeler Dealer

WE’VE STRUCK OILS, says the sign outside the white cinder-block building, a former used-car sales office located among the pizzerias and gas stations off Detroit’s Woodward Avenue. Inside, 500 paintings cover the walls and even part of the ceiling, which supine browsers can study from a large couch. The gallery, named the ARxerie, is dedicated to the uncontestable principle that every American home ought to have a real painting in that empty-looking place over the stereo set. Those who drive in are assured of finding art in every style, subject, size, color and medium, mostly bought up by the batch in Europe. Works are priced from $4 to $2,000—including frame.

Last week, while children used the ARTerie’s red couch for a trampoline, their parents were buying as if television were going out of style. After five days in business, 114 paintings had been rented, while more than 100 pieces of art, including an African circumcision mask, had been sold. The management plans soon to throw in a free car-wash with every purchase.