Jeff Koons’ “Hanging Heart”
The record for most expensive living artist seems to change hands like a $20 bill. Currently, the record is held by Jeff Koons for his “Hanging Heart” piece, which sold for $21.6 million. Before that, the record belonged to Damien Hirst. His “Lullaby Spring” pill box sold for $19.1 million at Sotheby’s in 2007. He took the record from friend Lucian Freud, grandson of the famous psychoanalyst, who held the record for a mere twenty-four hours when his “Bruce Bernard” painting sold for $16.5 million.
Freud may hold the title again, however, as his “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” painting is expected to sell for over $30 million at auction in May. The piece, depicting a fleshy femme reclining on a sofa, was painted in 1995 and became the first nude ever to make the front page of the UK’s Financial Times newspaper.
Lucian Freud’s “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping”
The 51-year-old model, Sue Tilley, spent months posing for the artist. During this time she wasn’t allowed to vacation, lest she return with a tan. While she was paid a mere $40 to pose for the painting, she was able to sell one of Freud’s earlier etchings of herself for a cool $50,000. Of course, she’ll also enjoy a certain level of fame from being the subject of one of the world’s most expensive paintings.
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Neither one of these pieces should have brought that kind of money!!!!!
the hanging heart is pretty nice. Don’t think i’d pay that much money for it, though.
The funny thing about all the greatest of artworks i have seen so far is that they don’t look the worth and that i guess is the sublime nature of value analysis…the fact that it’s not looking it does not mean it ain’t worth.Art and Values are complicated twins.
the heart artwork is beautiful, the painting…. not so much