Hey Art Lovers!!! The $450 Million Painting

[Mrnyceguy59]

BEAUTY AND MADNESS IN NYC!

One day I see a news article that the last privately held painting by Leonardo da Vinci is going to be auctioned off at Christie’s in NYC. Da Vinci paintings are very rare in USA. Only one is in Washington DC.

I live in New Jersey only 16 miles, about 26 kilometers, from NYC.

So I decided to take off from work and see. Auction houses usually exhibit what they are selling in the weeks before the auction date.

I got there 30 minutes before they opened. There were already a dozen people waiting for the doors to unlock. By the time they opened the line of people was around the block.

So the doors open and we are slowly let in, a few at a time.

Here’s a shot of it. It is called Salvator Mundi, or Savior of the World.

I love art, but I am not an expert. I enjoyed looking at it, and it was cool to see a Da Vinci in person. Some day I hope to get to The Louvre to see more.

It sold that night for over $450 million dollars! Wow.

But the fun was only beginning. Christie’s was selling lots of other paintings in the next few days and I got to see them all in their three floors of galleries. Some really beautiful work.

But now here’s where the MADNESS comes in. Some really ridiculous work was on display too. And they were estimated to go for lots of money.

For instance, this work:

Yes. That price at the bottom, $250,000 - $350,000 is estimated sale price.

It finally sold for $516,000. And what you see is what is was. A bunch of fish balloons that a small fan was blowing so that they were rising up and down. There was a staff member there that did nothing else but push the fish that moved away from the main group of fish. I heard her say, rather disgustedly, “Today I’m the fish whisperer”

Want another? How about this?

That string of lights that you see up there; that’s exactly what they are; a string of lights attached to the ceiling. It sold for $1,104,000. Insane; right!?

One more:

It sold for over $32 million. Now Mark Rothko is a famous artist at least. Maybe you find this pretty. OK. But $32 million. Sorry. that’s insane. I truly think the art world (the critics, historians, museum curators and gallery owners; the ones that say this is great art;) are truly out of there minds.

Now there was a lot of art I did like. Art that took real skill to draw and was beautiful and emotionally moving.

like this one:

This tender beautiful piece by Norman Rockwell sold for about $ 7 million.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU READERS THINK.

[PaulPavlinovich]

Art is in the eye of the artist and the beholder @Mrnyceguy59 - the controversy art generates is exactly what attracts people to it. The more controversial the more money it brings. Do I think its madness? No. Its just art. Every artist dreams to hit it big once in their lives.

Paul

[VasT]

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[Mrnyceguy59]

My post was entered by a Dell pc using Windows 10 and Google Chrome

[Mrnyceguy59]

Hey @PaulPavlinovich ,

Thanks for your comments. Coming from such an accomplished LG is flattering.

I totally agree that artists should make money, and if they can talk someone into paying them millions of $$ then good for them.

And I also agree that controversy increases the value of art. It causes publicity which increases sales. I think Picasso was the master of this.

But I respectfully disagree that controversy is a sign of good art.

I submit that great art is the result of great skill that comes from years of working at your craft. And also innate talent. I can study painting and practice for decades but I will never paint like Rembrandt.

I also think great art touches human emotion; be it the awe you get from seeing a beautiful sunset or vase of flowers; or an art work that captures the joy of seeing a mother holding her baby, happy lovers, a portrait of someone that captures his or her character.

I see that your a successful photographer. I’m guessing that your most successful photos were the result of years of learning all about how cameras work, the use of different lenses, exposures and filters. Didn’t you spend long hours learning about composition and finding worthy subjects to shot.

Sure beauty is in the eye of the beholder and we all like different things. If you like paintings of Rothko’s fuzzy squares or Jackson Pollack’s paint streaks; great. Fill your walls with them. But that doesn’t mean they in any way are the equal to the carefully prepared, wonderfully rendered paintings like the Sistine Chapel, or photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson or Dorothea Lange. And to call a string of Christmas lights art; well, I don’t know. I think that’s just wrong.

Sorry for going on like that. I mean it respectfully.

By the way, looks like we both like sculptures by Tom Otterness. I saw your photo from the 14th street station in NYC. Really fun stuff.

[OliverKIWI]

I am a big Norman Rockwell fan. @Mrnyceguy59 His works embody the quintessential American spirits.

[Mrnyceguy59]

To @OliverKIWI I agree. He’s totally underrated too.

[PaulPavlinovich]

Art is one of those difficult topics @Mrnyceguy59 and I struggle to understand some of it myself. One of the cool things about art is that no one has to agree or disagree and many pieces such as the string of lights are highly polarising with some people claiming they get it and others wondering what its all about.

I do paste ups around my city, usually of a rabbit called Mr Rabbit who is basically an orange bunny. The original one is made of steel and quite fascinating. My paste ups are literally scan of the original.I once came across a collection of people around an art tour leader who was explaining the exact meaning behind one of my Mr Rabbit pasteups. I stood and listed for ages while he explained what the rabbit meant and what the artist was likely going through. At the end I couldn’t stand it anymore and said quite rudely that “its just a fkn rabbit mate and I’m the fkn artist that put it there”. I think I completely wrecked the poor blokes day and probably the tour.

[Mrnyceguy59]

@PaulPavlinovich love your Mr. Rabbit. Especially the ears. Tour guide story is hilarious.

[PaulPavlinovich]

Oh Mr Rabbit doesn’t belong to anyone @Mrnyceguy59 he stayed with me for a couple of weeks during his first world tour. He is currently on his second world tour!

Paul

[Mrnyceguy59]

@PaulPavlinovich great! You must let me know when Mr Rabbit gets to new York City. I’ll introduce him to some Tom Otterness characters. Get some selfies

[PaulPavlinovich]

He went to New York on his first trip. I don’t know his current itinerary, I do know I’m on the list about October @Mrnyceguy59

I used my Lego minifigures with the Tom Otterness statuettes. A couple of cops wanted to know what I was doing . They didn’t care they were just curious and watched for a while before moving on.

Paul

[Mrnyceguy59]

@PaulPavlinovich Cool.

[Mrnyceguy59]

@PaulPavlinovich . I just wanted to day that i would love to see more photos of Mr Rabbit and shots of your legos with Otterness figures. Maybe you can put them in a new post under the photography section. Be safe!!