Why is ugly art worth so much?

Somebody explain this to me please: why is ugly art worth so much? AND why would you spend that kind of money on it when there are people dying in poverty around the world? The other day on the news they were going on and on about this painting that they thought was a fake from a famous Canadian artist (Tom Thompson) and how, now that they realized it isn't, suddenly the paint is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, I was having breakfast at the Aspen this saturday and saw a beautiful painting on the wall of a forest: the long thin Aspen trees in the light of an early bright morning. The color was amazing, even inside a dark room like the restaurant you can look to that painting and be transported to the middle of the forest, the light so beautiful. I wonder how much that painting is worth... 30 bucks? After all, it was not painted by Picasso or Tom Thompson.
Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate good art, and the Tom Thompson picture was nice. I think it is incredible how people can paint, especially considering that all I can draw are stick dolls. But I think art should be judged by its beauty, not by its name. Somebody still has to convince me that Picasso is beautiful.

Em Portugues:

Alguem me explica por favor: por que eh que arte feia vale tanto? E por que voce pagaria uma quantidade ridicula de dinheiro em uma pintura enquanto tem tanta gente morrendo na miseria? Esses dias a imprensa Canadense estava falando sobre esse quadro de um artista famoso (Tom Thompson) que ate pouco tempo era considerado uma falsificacao e, agora que eles decobriram que nao eh falcificacao, o quadro vale centenas de milhares de dolares. Enquanto isso eu estava tomando cafe da manha em um restaurante aqui (Aspen) e vi uma pintura de um floresta tipica dessa area. A luz que a pintura emitia era fantastica.. parecia que eu estava la na floresta, cedo pela manha, o sol iluminando o tronco das arvores... lindo. Quanto sera que vale aquela pintura? 30 contos? Afinal nao foi Picasso ou Tom Thompson quem pintou.
Nao me leve a mal: eu sei apreciar um bom quadro, e eu acho impressionante quando alguem pinta ou desenha qualquer coisa, especialmente porque eu soh sei desenhar bonequinhas de palito. Mas eu acho que arte deve ser julgada pela sua belesa e nao pelo seu nome. Eu ainda tenho que ser convencida que Picasso tem beleza.