Tracey Emin's My Bed breaks records as it sells at auction for £2.2million
It's courted more than its fair share of controversy, but Tracey Emin's infamous bed installation has cemented its iconic status as it sold at auction last night for £2.2million
It's courted more than its fair share of controversy, but Tracey Emin's infamous bed installation has cemented its status as one of the most iconic artworks of the 20th century, selling at auction at Christie's for £2.5million.
A warts and all visual documentation of the artist's traumatic relationship breakdown, the 1999 Turner Prize shortlisted work features an unmade bed and littered floor of empty vodka bottles, cigarette butts, discarded condoms, plasters, tampons and other delights.
Put up for sale by millionaire art collector Charles Saatchi, who bought the piece in 2000 for a mere £150,000, Emin's seminal artwork went under the hammer tonight for nearly three million to Jay Jopling, art dealer and founder of the White Cube gallery.
Christie's said that, with buyer's premium, My Bed went for £2,546,500 – a world record for Emin at auction and as the winning bid was announced, she apparently smiled and applauded – and so she might.
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