Bonhams auction house has witnessed a number of recording-breaking sales. The most recent sale is the sale of a hand-colored image of Edvard Munch’s Madonna, which sold for £1.25 million ($1.95 million), setting a record for a print. The work fetched way over its pre-sale estimate of £500,000 and £700,000 ($750,000 to $1 million). The hand-colored image dated 1895 bore the artist’s signature and was in the same family for over
a hundred years. It was sold on behalf of the estate of the British abstract expressionist artist Frank (Albert) Avray Wilson but came from his wife’s collection. Munch, a well-known Norwegian symbolist painter, reworked the Madonna image many times in his prints and paintings. The Madonna sold at this auction was in yellow and white, set against a halo of blue, green, and red. Dagny Juel, Munch’s mistress, was the model for the female figure in this image. The border of this image is comprised of spermatozoa shapes and a fetus.
The record-breaking sale is yet another indicates that price is definitely not a concern for certain folks when it comes to art.
[CBC News]