Heard it a few times and it certainly seems like something that would happen but is there any proof or real world examples?
Can an Appraiser just make something worth $20m based purely on their say so?
EDIT: Thanks some great replies! and yeah i was asking more about the tax evasion part than the 'modern art is bad lol' angle.
Reducing your taxable income also bumps you down to a lower tax bracket and your charitable foundation can do things with your money that you can't. So say at $100 you owe 20%, but at $60 you owe 10%. You donate $40 your foundation, which then uses it to buy plane tickets to fly you to TED talks and fundraisers. Say the plane ticket was $30. Before you donated, you wouldn't be able to deduct that from your income. So go from $100 - $20 in taxes - $30 in airfare = $50 on net to $100 - $40 in donations - $6 in taxes = $54 on net and your foundation still has $10 left to boot.
Tax brackets are progressive so money over 60 would be taxed at 20% while under would be 10%.
For simplicity's sake I was using the 20% and 10% as effective tax rates, not brackets. The principle still applies regardless, since you're reducing the income that's most heavily taxed first.