Records of sale have been set differently as far as art works are concerned; yes, artworks do sell pretty well, they are a way of making a living just like any other career. Selling and buying of artworks happen during art fairs/ exhibitions and some artists get to take home a good amount thanks to their creativity and uniqueness.
Painters, sculptors, photographers and many other artists all stand a chance to take to the bank a good cheque after selling their artworks, it all depends on how attractive your work is, its uniqueness, its ability to actually communicate and how much it appeals to the buyer among many other factors. If all these questions have a positive answer then the artwork can be a mine where the artist gets gold. This brings us to the question, “How much money would you spend to buy a piece of art?” “How much money is too much to spend on an artwork?” Well, there are art lovers out there who do not mind spending millions of dollars for just a piece so long as it is actually worth it or better yet you can call it “value for money.”
Different artists have sold their work at unarguably high prices; fans of their work or even museums and other institutions have bought their works for large amounts of money. For example Jean-Michel Basquiat’s skull painting sold for $110 million making him the best-selling American artist even in death. Andy Warhol’s Coca Cola painting also sold for $57.2 million, his painting titled “silver car crash” also sold for $105 among many other artworks of different artists. Basically there is lots of money in art and people don’t mind spending it.
The late Edward Hopper was a prominent American painter popularly known for his oil paintings and watercolor works. He was and still is America’s most celebrated painter of the solitary realities of 20th century life. His legendary work titled “Chop Suey” which is the last of his best known 1920s work in private hands sold for 91.9 million with fees at Christie’s sale of Ebsworth estate.
“Chop Suey” is an oil on canvas painting of two women sitting in a sunlit Chinese restaurant. This figure was the best he ever sold at when he was alive and it earned him a great record for best sale for American art. Christie’s global president Jussi Pylkkanen opened at $45 million. Deputy chairman Eric Widing and post-war and contemporary department chairman Loïc Gouzer traded bids on behalf of buyers on the phone, going back and forth in increments of $5 million and then $2 million. Gouzer’s bidder offered $85 million, and Widing, who worked closely with Ebsworth during his lifetime to acquire work for his collection, eventually shook his head, indicating he was out. Gouzer’s client claimed the work at a $85 million hammer, or $91.9 million with fees.
The previous high bid for Hopper had been $40.5 million back in 2013. “Chop Suey” was the most expensive artworks of the 91works Christie’s offered from the estate of Barney A Ebsworth. Other high priced works include a work by Williem De Kooning that sold for $68.9 million with fees introducing a new auction record for him. Jackson Pollock’s drip painting also sold for $55.4 million.
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