The Price of Art

What would you do if you had $142,405,000 lying around? Would you buy 20 houses? Start a charity? Establish new schools in Africa? Donate to your alma mater? Set up trust funds for your future children? The possibilities are pretty much endless, but it is unlikely that you would blow the full amount on a single item. In this case, that single item is a piece of modern art.

On Tuesday, November 12th, at Christie’s action in New York City, an unknown buyer purchased Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucien Freud to end an intense 6-minute bidding war at the standing-room only auction. This painting is now known as the most expensive piece of art ever auctioned. To give you a little background on the work, the famous British artist, Francis Bacon, painted this piece in 1969. Bacon has a relatively small body of work as compared to more prolific artists such as Picasso or Warhol, and thus this triptych (three canvas series) is the last of its kind to remain in private ownership, adding to its appeal and price tag. This particular triptych by Bacon depicts three different portraits of Lucien Freud, a rival of Bacon’s and the grandson of Sigmund Freud. Lucien Freud’s seated body is painted from three different angles and is placed in front of a plain yellow and brown background. The angles of the background imply the setting of a small room, yet another frame of thin black lines surrounds Freud and his chair as if to place him within his own space.

The descriptions of the piece thus far make it seem like a conventional depiction of the subject. However, this portrait cannot in any way serve as an accurate documentation of Freud’s superficial features. This portrait of Freud contains a highly distorted depiction of his face that perhaps serves to reflect elements of his inner psyche. Due to Bacon’s use of neutral colors in the rest of the piece, the viewer’s eyes are immediately drawn to the bright red and black on Freud’s almost violent looking face. The bright red on his face is juxtaposed with the black to further the violent drama created by his distorted, mask-like facial features. The conflicting facial features may be in part a reflection of Bacon’s relationship with Freud because Bacon had a well documented friendship as well as competitive relationship with Freud. This well documented relationship adds to the historical significance of the work.

While all of these elements serve to make this a successful and noteworthy piece, they fail to fully account for the piece’s exorbitant selling price. The distinction of the the “most expensive artwork” previously went to Edvard Munch’s The Scream which sold at Sotheby’s for $120 million last year. What is interesting to note is that both Bacon’s and Munch’s works are considered pieces of modern art.  According to artnet’s data, contemporary art sales rose from $850 million in 2002 to $6 billion in 2012. Artnet states that part of this huge increase is that less top tier pieces from before the contemporary era are coming to market, thus making contemporary art the main feature in action houses. However, the main reason for the increasing art sales is that the wealthy continue to become even wealthier.

These nouveau riche are seeking to enter into the art market in order to acquire prominent works of art for their own private collections. These pieces serve both as status symbols and as investments for the future when the work will be worth even more. The growing wealth in the top %1 is reflected in the growing art market, and neither are expected to plummet anytime soon. It can be expected that Bacon’s work will soon be beat out of its “most expensive” spot, maybe even within the next year as the wealthy elite continue to amass their private art collections. 

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