Would the sale of a famous artwork count as current events?

[Baitball Blogger]

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]

1. To me it does. I like to follow art sales.

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]

2. I had no idea there were four versions.

I'm guessing that only one of them is the one that makes it on all the coffee cups.

[msongs]

3. new highest price? great, now I can raise mine lol nt

[Baitball Blogger]

4. I watch Pawn Stars,

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]

5. Nope, not so much

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]

7. prices are appreciating at the top because there's more money concentrated at the top =

more demand for a limited supply of "great" art.

[Baitball Blogger]

9. Makes a lot of sense.

The 1 percenters are in a stratosphere that we only get to see glimpse of. So much for trickle down.

[JFN1]

6. Well, sure, if you have a spare $120 million just laying around,,,

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]

10. What is more amazing, is that if this guy purchased it for an investment,

it will sell for more than 120 million at some point.

[CTyankee]

12. It kills me to think of great art being sequestered and used as a "bragging" piece, when it

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]

24. Isn't the joke on them because the image is no longer copyrighted?

You can print it on anything and sell it for profit?

[CTyankee]

25. Well, sure, if that is your motivation for owning something but that is not why

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]

27. I can understand the obsession.

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]

28. I spend a lot of time at this hobby. I read constantly. I do art travel the way some people

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]

29. Just beautiful.

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]

31. Not pedestrian at all!

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]

37. No idea whatsoever about Van Gogh.

I''m going to look those paintings up.

In what forum do you post the challenges?

[CTyankee]

41. In General Discussion on Fridays at 5 pm, EST.

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]

39. I can see it in your pictures better than anything I picked up on the internet.

Honestly, though. if you hadn't have told me, I wouldn't have connected the two.

[CTyankee]

44. Please stop by tomorrow if you can. It's a lot of fun.

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]

30. Do these have anything to do with tomorrow's Challenge?

'Cause if they do, I think I'm gonna nail it.

Oh, pleasepleaseplease.

[CTyankee]

32. Now, pinboy, you know better than that!

These are too easy for you!

No, sorry. The torture continues tomorrow at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

[pinboy3niner]

33. I'm tempted...

...to get a note from my doctor:

To Whom It May Concern--

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]

42. You are too funny!

Oh, it's not that bad, really...

[pinboy3niner]

43. Hey, believe me, I have experience...

...writing all those notes to school that were signed, "My Mother."

[jonthebru]

8. Yes.

Art is actually a big business. This sale is a big deal.

[Baitball Blogger]

11. This will fly in the face of those who think that there is no merit

to an Art History major.

[CTyankee]

13. In my next life, I am going to be a curator at a great museum.

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]

15. We were in Paris for two days, time was critical.

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]

16. My faves in the Louvre: Veronese's Wedding at Cana and Delacroix's Death of

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]

18. Oh, please.

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]

22. Ah to be in love in Paris! How romantic! Good for you and your lucky sweetheart!

[Baitball Blogger]

23. He's still my sweetheart.

[CTyankee]

26. Awww...that's so nice. What a great memory.

"We'll always have Paris."

[cbdo2007]

14. was that your comment about the economy??

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]

17. Interesting how Munch's painting about existential horror sold for so much money

considering that is how more and more of us in the 99% are feeling. (inside, anyway - I know I do).

[Baitball Blogger]

19. If you do a search you'll find one where there's a bubble message which reads,

125,000,000!

They got the number wrong, but the sentiment is correct.

[cthulu2016]

20. re: not touched by the economy

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]

21. Not to mention that the rich have ways to protect their own interests and improve their odds

when it comes to taking financial risks.

[edhopper]

34. It is an iconic work of art

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]

35. Oh, darn! My bid missed it by THAAAAT much...

...as Agent Maxwell Smart would say.

And I thought it would make such a nice juxtaposition hanging next to this...

[Baitball Blogger]

36. The American Classic.

Is it even American?

[pinboy3niner]

40. Not even a clue here

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.

[slackmaster]

38. Much more newsworthy than stupid shit some politician's wife or kid said or did IMO