a feller recently pointed out to me something that I hadn’t known before. More naïvety on my part or simply repressing that which I’ll only find somewhat disgusting given the sheer volume of money that’s about to exchange hands in the name of furthering contemporary art. HOWEVER, this same feller also mentioned things which I find quite interesting, and being an artist is always about the tension of being at odds with oneself, with what one wants to make and with what one believes (thoughts can be ideal but art must manifest, it must be made. but I digress!).
he pointed out to me that the upcoming auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s are actually available for public viewing. Sure enough, in this month’s edition of Artforum the Sotheby’s ad (an 8-page spread I might add – that’s not cheap!) even calls the event an ‘exhibition’. Interesting!
Both have their auction catalogues available online for viewing, however the Sotheby’s website requires registration just to view the works, so boooooo to them for that feature! Click here to view the Christie’s ‘POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART AFTERNOON SALE, Sale 1836’ works.
I thought of opening this post with a ‘wanna see what a million buckaroos looks like?’ or ‘here’s what I’d buy if I had a million dollars’ but it’s all pretty pointless really (however I will note that the below images are in the low-ballpark range of $480,000 and in the high-ballpark range of $720,000). I just want to see a couple of these works, and this may be the only opportunity to see some of this works for a while, and given the amount of works available, these auctions may very well be the largest show in town next week.
(Sotheby’s ‘exhibition opens’ 11 May, auction on 15 May; Christie’s have viewing from 12-16 May with auctions on 16 and 17 May. maybe see you at the exhibitions?)