"Not the works, for heaven's sake," I said.

It includes two rare works said to be in extraordinary condition.

"Slanter, if you do this, I'll show you a little of how the magic works," Jair said finally.

"And her own works praise her in the gates," said Novinha.

Wilson even asks in his catalogue essay, as if to acknowledge the fact, whether weak works say more than strong ones.

Some works that sold for less than $200 two decades ago now command prices of $50,000 and up, art collectors, dealers and artists say.

The works, Mr. Reich said, "bring us back from the vacancy of words to the density of physical reality."

The first works, the manufacturer says, by sending a very low-voltage current of electricity from one hand to the other hand.

It makes little sense to say that Wagner the man and Wagner's works, say, run parallel into infinity, never touching at any point.