The strangest works of art people are willing to pay millions for

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

If you do not consider yourself a connoisseur of contemporary art, then perhaps some of the art objects presented in this selection will seem like a joke or a provocation, but all of these are generally recognized masterpieces that are very expensively priced and sold at auctions. They undoubtedly make one think about what real art is, and how to separate truly talented works, if there are no exact criteria other than the inner sensations of each individual viewer here and cannot be.

"Puppies" and balls by Jeff Koons

This American artist is called "the most successful after Warhol", as well as a genius of kitsch culture. His first famous work was an aquarium with three basketballs floating in it. In 1992 Jeff conquered the whole world by creating a 13-meter "Puppy" from flowers. This whopper has already managed to travel around the world - the first version was created in Germany for the exhibition, then the sculpture, having increased in size, moved to Sydney, visited a temporary exhibition in New York, and was later acquired by the Spanish Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Here, like any self-respecting work of art, she found both fans and haters - three people disguised as gardeners tried to blow up the sculpture, but were caught by the police. Now "Puppy" is a local landmark.

Another doggie from Jeff Koons is among the ten most expensive works of art in the world. Balloon Dog was sold at Christie's for $ 58.4 million. If you know how to make exactly the same from balls, but did not think to sell it, do not be discouraged and look at the following works. It is possible that creative inspiration will visit you in the most unexpected place. By the way, Koons' Rabbit broke this record, they paid 91.1 million dollars for it. These and a whole series of similar brilliant sculptures were made by the master from stainless steel.

"Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp

The history of this masterpiece is sad. Unfortunately, its original was lost after the first exhibition, which may have given rise to an anecdote about a cleaning lady who threw out the installation, mistaking it for rubbish. Today we can only enjoy a single photograph and 8 copies made later by other artists. But seriously, Duchamp's Fountain, created in 1917 for the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists, is considered an important milestone in the direction of art of the 20th century and is recognized by experts as the greatest work of its era. If you feel confused, then here is a quote from one of the defenders of this art object (of course, Fountain achieved recognition as a result of heated debates):

(Beatrice Wood, American artist, writer and journalist)

So, before us is not just an ordinary urinal with the inscription "R. Mutt" (R. Fool), but an original ready-made and masterpiece of conceptual art. In December 2004, as a result of a poll among British professionals, this work of Duchamp was recognized as the greatest work of the 20th century, gaining 64% of the vote and ahead of Picasso's "Maidens of Avignon". One of eight copies was sold at Sotheby's for $ 1.7 million.

"The physical impossibility of death in the mind of a living" by Damien Hirst

This strange installation is the creation of one of the richest artists on the planet (in 2010, Hirst's fortune was estimated at 215 million). Which, by the way, speaks of the demand for his art, because Damien's father was a simple mechanic. Hirst, the "bad boy" who was arrested as a child for shoplifting and then reluctant to take to art colleges, is today considered one of Britain's most prominent artists.

A tiger shark immersed in a huge formaldehyde aquarium - one of the works of the "Natural History" series, according to art critics, is a landmark for British art of the 1990s. In 2004, a famous collector bought this strange piece for 12 million.

Boxes and the Mystery of the Woman of Salvador Dali

It is probably dangerous to analyze in detail the work of an eccentric Spanish artist - you can get too far away from reality and immerse yourself in a world of illusions and associations. However, the topic of a woman with drawers sliding out of her body was probably very important for Dali. Usually, these strange constructions are explained by feminine secrets and secrets that a woman, as a highly organized creature, is also “put on the shelves”.

Invisible art

Probably, any person associated with creativity is familiar with the feeling that the best work is the one that has not yet been written, drawn, created and is at the level of design. In New York, this principle was able not only to "materialize", but even to sell. MONA (The Museum on Non-Visible Art) is a museum of invisible art. On the empty white walls there are only signs with the name of the work and their description, like this. And those who cannot imagine themselves "the work of their dreams", let him not go to museums where such great works are exhibited that our sinful world is not worthy for their materialization! According to the creators of the museum, this is a completely new level of conceptual art.

However, it turns out that it is possible to buy such a masterpiece for ordinary "despicable metal". For example, in 2011, an invisible painting by James Franco "Fresh Wind" was purchased for 10 thousand dollars. Well, then everyone decides for himself that this is an ideal scheme of fraud, described by Andersen, or a breakthrough and a new round in the development of contemporary art.

See continuation of the topic: Art on the verge of a foul: 10 provocative statues, the meaning of which not many people know