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Watercolour on Two Seperate Sheets of Paper (Tracey Emin) |
Would you pay £6,500 for a scribbled promise of love from Tracey Emin?
Art goes under the hammer
THEY were just two sheets of paper in glass frames with words hand written but they were the work of controversial artist Tracey Emin and sold for £6,500.
Britain’s biggest art fair – in Islington this week – included exhibits ranging from Emin’s two sheet offering to a dramatic sculpture by Emily Young, a four ton man’s head entitiled Howl.To be fair to Ms Emin, some of the words from her work, Watercolour on Two Separate Sheets of Paper, made sense – at least to some of the buyers at the auction.
Her work, on the theme of promises, was auctioned on Tuesday night on behalf of Aids charity the Terence Higgins Trust.
She’d drawn in big capital letters on one framed paper sheet: “I promise to love you” and on the other: “And then again at 5am ...”
Other paintings auctioned were Study of Bluebird at Bonneville by Jack Vettriano OBE (£32,000); Still from Songs from the West coast by Sam Taylor-Wood (£1,200); and Ruth Smoking by Julian Opie, which went for £5,000.
The evening raised a total of £80,900 – about £20,000 more than last year. More than 1,000 artists and 105 galleries exhibited at the art fair at the Business Design Centre, with work from Banksy, Barbara Hepworth, Patrick Caulfield and LS Lowry with prices ranging from £95 to £1million.
But one of the most striking pieces was Howl, gently lowered in by crane to its position opposite steps leading up to the Design Centre, where it is on display until the fair closes on Sunday.
Emily Young, who has exhibits outside St Paul’s Cathedral, described her stone carving as “wailing about the state of the world”.
There have been calls for the half polished head, made from semi-precious onyx and standing 2.5m high, to remain a permanent feature outside the centre.
• London Art Fair, is at the Business Design centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, N1 until Sunday January 20. www.londonartfair.co.uk |
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