Francis Bacon Artwork Sets Auction Record in NY, with a price of $142.4 Million
19 replies, posted
[img]http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/1966t73mx6oafjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg[/img]
[quote]A 1969 painting by Francis Bacon set a world record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and a sculpture by Jeff Koons broke a world auction record for a living artist at a Manhattan sale on Tuesday.
"Three Studies of Lucian Freud" was purchased for $142.4 million at Christie's postwar and contemporary art sale Tuesday evening. The triptych depicts Bacon's artist friend.
The work sold after "6 minutes of fierce bidding in the room and on the phone" to Acquavella Galleries in Manhattan, Christie's said in a statement. The price included the buyer's premium.
The price tag surpassed the nearly $120 million paid for Edvard Munch's "The Scream," which set a world record when it was sold at Sotheby's in a 2012 sale.
The previous record for Bacon's artwork sold at auction was the British artist's 1976 "Triptych." That sold for $86 million in 2008.
Also up for sale at Christie's evening auction was Koons' whimsical "Balloon Dog (Orange)," a 10-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture resembling a twisted child's party balloon. It sold for $58.4 million, a world auction record for the artist and a world auction record for a living artist, said Christie's. The auction house did not reveal the buyer.
It is one of five balloon dogs Koons has created in different colors. All are in private hands. It was sold by newsprint magnate Peter Brant to benefit his Brant Foundation Art Study in Greenwich, Conn.
A 1977 painting by Willem De Kooning, "Untitled VIII," sold for over $32 million, a world auction record for the artist. In 2006, De Kooning's "Untitled XXV," sold for $27.1 million.
Other highlights at Christie's included an iconic Andy Warhol, "Coca-Cola (3)," which fetched $57. 2 million. It was estimated to sell for $40 million to $60 million. The Warhol auction record is $71.7 million for "Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I)," sold in 2007.
Also on sale was a bright orange-yellow and white oil painting by Mark Rothko. Reminiscent of a radiating sunset, the 1957 large-scale "Untitled (No. 11)" garnered over $46 million. In May 2012, Christie's sold Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" for $86.8 million, a record for any contemporary artwork at auction.[/quote]
[url]http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/francis-bacon-painting-set-artist-record-20863676[/url]
Ah, artwork. It's always amazing to see the prices some of this stuff can command. While me and mine can claim to own a fair bit in the way of worldly wealth, these are exalted circles in which we can't be moving in for several generations yet.
I like Bacons work, they remind me of the monsters from Silent Hill.
my three semesters of anatomy study mean nothing
That's a lot of money, I guess some people are really into collecting there types of pictures. Not something I'd personally hang up if I had $140m spare
At first glance I thought OP's title said "Kevin Bacon Artwork"
I thought a painting of Kevin Bacon sold for that much.
bbc news reported it as 'bacon artwork'
i thought someone really liked bacon
Here's a bigger picture:
[t]http://publicdescription.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/bacon2.jpg[/t]
I've got to say, out of all the artworks that could be sold for an insanely high price, I'm okay with it being this one.
Pretty sure The Card Players went for $260 million?
[QUOTE=Notezee;42851572]At first glance I thought OP's title said "Kevin Bacon Artwork"
I thought a painting of Kevin Bacon sold for that much.[/QUOTE]
I thought it was referring to the 17th century English philosopher myself.
[QUOTE=Adman;42851628]Pretty sure The Card Players went for $260 million?[/QUOTE]
yeah that's the most expensive painting ever sold. actually it's the most expensive art-related thing ever sold.
Personally speaking, I'd keep that kind of money in banks or invest it somewhere. While I like art for art's sake, and consider myself a bit of a connoisseur, I'd balk at spending that much money on one piece of art. Each of us has our limits.
[QUOTE=Tweevle;42851620]I've got to say, out of all the artworks that could be sold for an insanely high price, I'm okay with it being this one.[/QUOTE]
I'm glad it isn't that deep and edgy "modern" art where I could smear my shit on a brick wall and sell it for fifty grand.
Also aren't they technically paying for three different paintings? Does that count?
[QUOTE=Sadim;42851785]I'm glad it isn't that deep and edgy "modern" art where I could smear my shit on a brick wall and sell it for fifty grand.
Also aren't they technically paying for three different paintings? Does that count?[/QUOTE]
It's a bit subjective, some works of modern art need a keen knowledge of how that form of modern art works to be appreciated for what they are, but just pouring out splashes of paint randomly on a canvas without proper consideration for the kind of art you're trying to make classes as stupid.
[QUOTE=Sadim;42851785]I'm glad it isn't that deep and edgy "modern" art where I could smear my shit on a brick wall and sell it for fifty grand.
Also aren't they technically paying for three different paintings? Does that count?[/QUOTE]
they might be three different paintings but the three paintings together make one single work of art.
[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;42851824]It's a bit subjective, some works of modern art need a keen knowledge of how that form of modern art works to be appreciated for what they are, but just pouring out splashes of paint randomly on a canvas without proper consideration for the kind of art you're trying to make classes as stupid.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, and a lot of seemingly simple artwork is meticulously thought out and references and/or comments on other artworks, so if you tried to make something like that without a clue what you were doing, you actually wouldn't get very far.
[QUOTE=Mabus;42851508]I like Bacons work, they remind me of the monsters from Silent Hill.[/QUOTE]
If I was a rich dude I would buy this one
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/z2S2NZC.jpg[/IMG]
I'm actually rather surprised that it's one of his more mundane works that fetched such high bids.
I came in here expecting one of the previously noted pope-screaming-in-a-meat-locker paintings to be the record breaker, since... well, [i]popes screaming in meat lockers[/i]
Love his style. That buyer has good taste.
oh i thought it was this francis bacon
[t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Pourbus_Francis_Bacon.jpg[/t]
but it wasn't
[editline]13th November 2013[/editline]
[t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Francis_Bacon_in_the_Library_of_Congress.Jpeg/600px-Francis_Bacon_in_the_Library_of_Congress.Jpeg[/t]
neck-doilies should come back in fashion some day soon
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