General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWould the sale of a famous artwork count as current events?
Just amazed how some things aren't touched by the economy.
Munch's "The Scream" sells for record $120 million
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream," one of the world's most recognizable works of art, sold for $120 million at Sotheby's on Wednesday, setting a new record as the most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction.
The sale at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art auction featured other works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro, but Munch's vibrant piece was the centerpiece of the auction in a salesroom packed with collectors, bidders and the media.
The vibrant pastel from 1895 was conservatively estimated to sell for about $80 million at Sotheby's, but two determined bidders drove the final price to $107 million, or $119,922,500 including commission, during a 15-minute bidding war.
One of four versions by the Scandinavian painter, which was being sold by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, "The Scream" easily eclipsed the old auction record held by Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," which went for $106.5 million at Christie's two years ago.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-05-02/entertainment/sns-rt-us-thescream-auctionbre84200m-20120502_1_modern-art-auction-sotheby-editorial-cartoons
xchrom
(108,903 posts)The Munsch - was going to sell wel - I just don't know if I'd like something that's become damn near cliche - not the 'fault' of the artist of course.
Just my personal thought.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)I'm guessing that only one of them is the one that makes it on all the coffee cups.
msongs
(67,436 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)and they always lowball everything because of the economy. "Not at this year's prices."
Apparently that excuse doesn't apply to the high ticket items.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)collectibles and antiques have waned in many areas as fewer and fewer people have disposable income. The people who buy these works of art are economy and inflation proof just looking for ways to dispose of a lot of cash..
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)more demand for a limited supply of "great" art.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)The 1 percenters are in a stratosphere that we only get to see glimpse of. So much for trickle down.
JFN1
(2,033 posts)I mean, when you could build a few schools for the community, or give your wage slaves better pay, or feed some hungry Americans, why not buy a piece of art every bit as insanely overpriced as the payscale for professional athletes?
Sure, the art is great - no one is suggesting its not an important piece.
But it annoys me people pay such money for something that, more than likely, they intend to use as a status symbol, or for bragging rights down at the billionaire's club - and probably not just because its a great piece of art - and history.
And then hang it on a wall in their mansion where only an elite few will ever see it...when such art is an important example of human potential, talent, and expression; raw communication of the soul being hoarded instead of magnified.
Just sayin'...
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)it will sell for more than 120 million at some point.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)could be donated to a museum for all to see.
Having said that, some private owners of great art have made temporary loans to museums for special exhibits. I guess that's better than nothing.
I like what Isabella Gardner did. She got a private collector to "lend" her "El Jaleo," the great masterpiece of John Singer Sargent, to put up "temporarily" in her then-newly opened museum in Boston. When it came time to return it, she resisted and finally convinced the owner that it should stay put. You can see it there today, in exactly the same setting that she designed for it.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)You can print it on anything and sell it for profit?
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)original art can be so expensive and is coveted by collectors. It's just the thrill of having one of these Munch's that no one else can afford to buy. I wouldn't feel that way. I would buy it and donate it to a museum. That would give me a lot of personal satisfaction. But I am a little crazy over art. It is something of an obsession for me...
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)You really need to study the history of art to pick up all the nuances that most people miss. Like the placement of secondary individuals to draw attention to the most important part of the painting; or how most of the paintings are actually commissioned by wealthy houses--usually family portraits.
Sometimes it's like cracking a code. At the time I went to the Lourve I wouldn't have recognized the paintings by name that you mentioned. So it goes without saying that I missed a lot.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)do food and wine travel (altho that's also attractive to me!). But I am retired, so I have the spare time. Most people have lives (sounds like you have a great one!).
BTW, the Delacroixs were in a room not far from the room where you saw the Mona Lisa. I think the Veronese was on another floor, IIRC.
Here:
veronese
[IMG][/IMG]
delacroix
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
caravaggio
[IMG][/IMG]
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)I was lucky enough to edit college papers for an Art History major. The last one was Caravaggio.
The art that made the least sense to me was Japanese. So disciplined that it didn't open itself to the kind of creativity of colors that we saw in the European masters. But, that's my pedestrian view.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Did you know that Van Gogh copied Hiroshige? Orientalism was a big deal to European artists in the 19th century (evidenced by the Delacroix Women of Algiers and Death of Sardanopolos).
I did an Independent Study in grad school on Caravaggio. Our first cinematic artist, as one critic called him.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)I''m going to look those paintings up.
In what forum do you post the challenges?
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)The paintings that I posted aren't in the Challenge this week, tho. But please join us if you can. We'd love to have you. And I promise: no judgmentalism! Everybody welcome! If you like art, please visit!
I'm so glad you loved them. It is my goal to expose more art to people (like me, at one point) who didn't know about them.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)Honestly, though. if you hadn't have told me, I wouldn't have connected the two.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Everybody is welcome. I get so many great responses from people telling me their stories about a picture they loved when they were a kid, or an experience they had in an art course, or a trip they had to a museum that made a difference in their life.
It's just so rewarding to hear these stories. I love it. I love to get people thinking about art and what they really loved about it in their lives. It is often a very central story...
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)'Cause if they do, I think I'm gonna nail it.
Oh, pleasepleaseplease.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)These are too easy for you!
No, sorry. The torture continues tomorrow at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)...to get a note from my doctor:
I'm afraid pinboy3niner has come down with Mad Cow Disease, and there is no way he could possibly participate in the Friday Afternoon Torture...er, Challenge.
Thankyou For Your Consideration,
pinboy3niner's Doctor
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Oh, it's not that bad, really...
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)...writing all those notes to school that were signed, "My Mother."
jonthebru
(1,034 posts)Art is actually a big business. This sale is a big deal.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)to an Art History major.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)I can't think of a more rewarding career in the Arts than that (unless it is being able to actually produce the art in the first place).
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)Last edited Thu May 3, 2012, 01:03 PM - Edit history (1)
Can you imagine only having an hour allotted to visit the Lourve? We barely had time to run down to see the Mona Lisa. Still it was dreamy.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Sardanopolos and Women of Algiers.
Caravaggio's Death of the Virgin is down the hall from the Mona Lisa.
Did you get to the Musee D'Orsay or the Rodin Museum?
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)That same day we literally coasted off the Eiffel Tower AND ran to Versailles. The next day was a holiday and everything was closed. We spent the day in this Inn built on a narrow street where the buildings bumped up against each other. We were on the second floor with the bed next to an open window. It started raining and we could hear the people below laughing as they tried to dodge the rain. We stayed in with only a loaf of bread, cheese and chocolates that we bought the day before.
Most romantic day ever!
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)CTyankee
(63,912 posts)"We'll always have Paris."
cbdo2007
(9,213 posts)The upper eschelon has only grown richer and richer, thus sales for these items will always go up and up. It's really a great investment as they can probably sell it in another 5 years for another $20 Million. I doubt real art lovers ever end up with these, they probably just end up in someone's fourth mansion in the spare bedroom and is only ever viewed by their fancy guests twice a year. Shame!
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)considering that is how more and more of us in the 99% are feeling. (inside, anyway - I know I do).
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)125,000,000!
They got the number wrong, but the sentiment is correct.
cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)The fortunes of the rich (the only group contending for $100 million paintings) are determined by the strength of the stock market.
The stock market is quite high.
There are two very different economies and the rich economy is doing quite well.
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)when it comes to taking financial risks.
edhopper
(33,606 posts)I understand the interest by the buyers. But people had the equivalent of the yearly salary of 2000 middle class families lying around.
So I still say:
Rich Mother Fuckers have too much fucking money.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)...as Agent Maxwell Smart would say.
And I thought it would make such a nice juxtaposition hanging next to this...
Baitball Blogger
(46,756 posts)Is it even American?
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)But if it's not, we could always hang it next to Velvet Elvis, or Crazy Eye Jesus (with the eyes that follow you around, lol!), or practically any of the Kincades.