Do you remember the sale of Rhein II?
A refresher…
Rhein II is a color image made in 1999 by the German artist, Andreas Gursky. In 2011, it sold at a Christie’s New York auction for $4.3 million making it the most expensive photograph ever.
You think it must be a remarkable picture? Well, go HERE to see what it looks like… just some horizontal strips of green and gray, no? Do you still think it’s awesome? Having a hard time understanding the correlation with the massive price tag?
Well, surely part of the story resides in the dark corners of the art industry–the galleries, the reputations (fame) of artists and buyers, the chaotic art market itself, the publicity, who knows whom, high society hubris, wine and cheese mingling at openings, and so on.
Actually, the artwork is indeed (supposedly) quite impressive. First, it measures nearly seven by thirteen feet (2.1 x 3.8 meters, to be exact), so it’s huge. Mounted on acrylic glass, some say the effect is quite stunning and vibrant. Then there is the idea behind it–that the image is a fictional landscape, impossible to capture these modern days due to industrial development and basic human ubiquitousness… so, it is an arty comment on the time-honored Human v. Nature theme.
But, still. Even so. Is this a crazy world, or what? That someone actually has over four million dollars just burning a hole in their Gucci suit pockets for this type of purchase? (“Hey, I think I’ll buy that!”)
Just, wow.
Anyway…
To that end, I am now presenting my quite unique work, Rhein II on the Med, #1 (above), just in case another art collector out there might be interested in forking over, say, a mere two million dollars. (I don’t quite have Gursky’s reputation, thus the discount.) For that price, I’ll have the best fine art printer in New York print the image on acrylic glass at 8′ x 14′ (even bigger that Rhein II!) and I’ll even include free delivery.
Just give me a holler via email when you have the check ready. Oh, and a wire transfer or PayPal will work, too.
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