Tuesday, February 24, 2015

photograph reportedly just went for a world record $6.5 million

...photograph reportedly just went for a world record $6.5 million, article.

Australian photographer Peter Lik will rarely pass up an opportunity to show his biceps. There he was, wearing a cowboy hat, trekking up a snowy mountainside, arms bare. There he was, behind the wheel of a green truck, flexing. ...
art consultant David Hulme saying. Commenting on one of Lik’s pieces that went for $1 million, he added: “I don’t fancy the owner’s chances of recouping anywhere near what he paid for this one.”
That assessment hasn’t stopped Lik from selling. Take it from photographer Scott Reither, who also sells pictures and once worked as one of Lik’s salesmen. He wrote a lengthy blog post on his travails in which he spoke of hustling photographs like a used car salesman and pushing fine art on a Las Vegas clientele caught up in “impulsive behavior while visiting Sin City.” Reither said he sold $700,000 worth of Lik’s photography in seven months and quit, unable to “stomach it any further.”
“I felt like I had to feed people a bunch of lies,” he wrote, questioning the “absurd pricing structure for the not-very limited editions of 950″ print...
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Get this print for $6.5M. 

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Pop singers "design" Leica cameras, and the Marborro Man sets world records in "art photo" pricing. It's a brave new world. Or at least a brass one. 

2 comments:

Ken said...

Either he has found someone with lots of money and no sense or it is made up. Take your pick.

The whole marketing business is interesting if a bit distasteful. The photographs are sold in limited editions with increasing prices as the editions run out. So todays photo at $4000 will be next years at $20000. Only problem is that those are not the open market prices.

The sad thing is that there are a lot of excellent photographers around. Maybe they won't become hugely valuable but they probably will keep their value and you will have something that is fairly unique on your wall. This might be a bit moody for some people but try https://juliancalverley.wordpress.com/2012/08/04/gallery-1066-summer-show/

Russ said...

I like <a href="http://www.popphoto.com/news/2011/05/cindy-sherman-print-sells-39-million-auction-highest-ever-photograp>Cindy Sherman's print</a> better as it is much more unique and at under $4M a steal compared to Lik's.