Everything started with Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain when he submitted a porcelain urinal, which was signed “R.Mutt” and titled Fountain for the exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in 1917. Duchamp was an artist who had become involved with Dada, an anti-rational, anti-art cultural movement, and his work is considered to be a major landmark in 20th-century art. Duchamp definitely deserves respect since his attempt was the outcome of a philosophical controversy as he described his intent with the piece was to shift the focus of art from physical craft to intellectual interpretation. Duchamp became the pioneer of conceptual art, and 20th-century art world witnessed an extensive use of “found objects.” However, it is not easy, especially for those who are not into contemporary art, to make sense out of some contemporary art works, which were sold for incredible prices.
1- “Artist’s Shit” by Piero Manzoni (1961) – sold for €124,000
The artist explained his intention as follows:
“I should like all artists to sell their fingerprints, or else stage competitions to see who can draw the longest line or sell their shit in tins. The fingerprint is the only sign of the personality that can be accepted: if collectors want something intimate, really personal to the artist, there’s the artist’s own shit, that is really his.”
2- Non-Existent Art – sold for $10,000
Believe it or not but a woman spent $10,000 on a piece of non-existent artwork from the Museum of Non-Visible Art (MONA). The work was titled “Fresh Air.”
3- “Piss Christ” by Andres Serrano (1987) – sold for $15,000
Piss Christ is a photograph by the American artist and photographer Andres Serrano. It depicts a small plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist’s urine. The piece was a winner of the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art’s “Awards in the Visual Arts” competition.
4- “Red Mirror” by Gerhard Richter (1991)- sold for $ 750,000
This is really just red paint in a slight gradient on a mirror. Perhaps the collector who bought it just wanted to see themselves in a bit more color when looking in the mirror.
5- “Balloon Dog (Orange)” by Jeff Koons (1994-2000) – sold for $58.4 million
The American artist Jeff Koons is known for brightly colored reflective sculptures that resemble balloons. His work “Balloon Dog (Orange)” was sold for $58.4 million, and became “the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction.”
6- “My Bed” by Tracey Emin (1999) – sold for £2.5 million
My Bed is a work by the British artist Tracey Emin. It was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1999 as one of the shortlisted works for the Turner Prize. It consisted of her bed with bedroom objects in an abject state, and gained much media attention. Although it did not win the prize, its notoriety has persisted.
7- “Venus de Milo Statue Made of Panda Excrement” by Zhu Cheng (2010)- sold for $45,113
Zhu Cheng, one of China’s most famous and talented sculptors, has helped nine of his art students to create a replica of Venus de Milo out of excrements. China has more than 300 panda bears in captivity. Considering that an adult panda is capable of producing daily an estimated 20.4kg of waste, the artist had plenty of material to work with.
8- “Rhein II” by Andreas Gursky (2011) – sold for $4.3 million
This simple, somewhat boring picture was sold at Christie’s for $4.3 million, and broke the previous record for the price of a photograph, which was set by Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled #96″ at $3.89 million.
9-“The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” by Damien Hirst (1991) – sold for $12 million
“The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” consists of a 14-foot tiger shark suspended and preserved in formaldehyde, in a vitrine. The work has prompted a wave of controversy about its value and originality of his since the shark has been replaced with younger models following its initial installation due to inevitable decomposition.