Posted by Ruth Miller on Fri 11th April 2008 at 04:38 PM, Filed in Expensive Art
A classic Lucian Freud portrait of a rather plump lady, is predicted to break the world auction record for most expensive painting by a living artist.
The elegantly constructed masterpiece is titled “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” named after the profession of the sitter. The painting which was completed in 1995 is expected to fetch $35 million (£18 million) at Christie’s, exceeding the current record of $23.56 million, held since last year by the American artist Jeff Koons.
Amazing, considering the credit crunch......
A nude photo of France’s first lady Carla Bruni has recently been sold at auction for a staggering $91,000 (£46,098).
The rather artistic image was taken by renowned photographer Michel Comte in 1993.
The photo was bought at Christies New York by an anonymous bidder, with the final auction price hitting 30 times the list price.
This beautiful representation of Ariel by the sculptor Kate Newlyn is currently retailing for £10,500 ($21,000) - making it the most expensive Ariel I know of !
The inspiration is from William Shakespeare’s Ariel - portrayed in his last play “The Tempest”. In the play Ariel is enslaved by the witch Sycorax and imprisoned in a cleft pine tree, where he remains until freed by the Duke of Milan, the powerful wizard Prospero, who had been shipwrecked on the island.
A great luxury piece for the gardener with a love of literary legends....
Posted by Patrick Woolmer on Thu 28th February 2008 at 09:40 AM, Filed in Expensive Art
Pieces by the iconic artists Francis Bacon and Andy Warhol have been auctioned for a staggering total figure of £95m ($190m) according to Sotheby’s.
The auction house, claim to have set a new record for contemporary pieces sold in Europe.
The pieces sold included:
Francis Bacon’s 1969 Study of Nude With Figure In A Mirror - sold for £20m ($40m).
Three Andy Warhol self portraits, dating from 1986, were auctioned for almost £11.5m ($23m).
Other pieces by Gilbert and George, Andreas Gursky and Bridget Riley were also sold.
Posted by Hayden Allen on Fri 4th January 2008 at 11:21 PM, Filed in Expensive Art
The owner of the building with this work of art from Banksy on is clearly rubbing his hands together, and fair enough!
This piece of Banksy art is currently up on Ebay for a buy it now price of £1,000,000 although the bid is only currently at £3,500 (day 1). It’s said Banksy actually knocked on the owners door and asked whether he could graffiti the wall before he did it… what a jolly nice fellow I hear you say.
The lucky owner (Luti) of the building claims to have spent over £1,000 protecting the work of art to date and is clearly hungry for some hard cash. It’s protected with per-specs glass safe from vandals.
The price doesn’t include carefully removing the section of the wall which is currently on the Portobello Roadin London. Estimations for removal are around £5,000 on its own.
Fancy a bid… here.
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