Like ‘The Bachelor,’ But for Art Boys? NBC Is Looking to Cast Single Artists for a New Reality Show

Like Cooke Maroney. But different.

Here's some art boys for you: dealer Cooke Maroney, socialite Stavros Niarchos and dealer Vladimir Roitfeld. Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Museo Jumex.

Back in April, Vanity Fair’s Rachel Dodes posited something that those of us in the capital-A Art World have known for a long time: Art Boys are so, so in right now, you guys.

“The Art Boy is a regular guy with a twist,” Dodes wrote. For those not yet in the know (where have you been?), an Art Boy, according to the definitely very official Urban Dictionary, is “a male that’s into aesthetics and art. Often an Art Boy is hot.”

Hot, hot, hot. Very hot. And a new demographic of women—specifically beautiful, wealthy, famous actresses—is becoming wise to the benefits of romantically linking themselves to these unicorns. Jennifer Lawrence dating Gladstone director Cooke Maroney is the example that caused Vanity Fair to sit up and take notice, but don’t forget Helena Bonham Carter dating art critic Rye Dag Holmboe or Amber Heard’s fling with dealer Vito Schnabel.

Reality show producers, never ones to miss a trend, may now be trying to cash in. Earlier this week, a Facebook post popped up on the Los Angeles Art Opportunities group page and swiftly migrated into art-world chatter.

“NBC Universal is searching for single Bachelors Artist,” the (clearly not proof-read) post says, going on to list a few more qualifications: You must be been the ages of 35 and 45 (seems a bit on the older end, no?); you must be taller than 5’7″; you must live in Los Angeles and be part of the “arts community”; and you must be “non-union” (as in, not in an actor’s union, we assume).

Screenshot from Twitter.

Screenshot from Twitter.

Do you meet these qualifications? Just get a “full body pic of yourself” ready (please, no nudes) and send along a note about “what you’re looking for in a woman.” (The correct answer, BTW, is, “I’m looking to date a famous movie actress.”)

“I am not able to share any additional information about the show, other than the casting information provided,” a representative for NBC wrote in reply to an inquiry. We’ll let you know if we hear anything more. (We found another version of the casting notice, disappointingly not targeted specifically at artists, posted to the Reality TV Casting Facebook page, so whether the final product will truly capitalize on its creative potential is, as yet, unclear.)

It’s not hard to imagine an Art Boy-focused dating show that would compete with ABC’s juggernaut success, The Bachelor, however. Those guys are red-blooded beefcakes raised on a steady diet of family values and whole milk. The dashing Art Boy, on the other hand, is more of a rosé and tapas type. Who doesn’t want to watch a show about him?


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