Edward Munch's pastel version of The Scream has just been auctioned at Sotheby's for the tidy sum of $120 million. OK, it is fairly large, 3 2" x 23.25" (81 x 59 cm), but as one critic put it "it is only a bit of pastel on a board".
Only?
Now, what then is the version made in oil and tempera? It is only a bit of pigment diluted with oil and eggs onna board. After all.
We all know why a pastel painting sells for that ridiculous sum -- it is the name, the brand, of Munch, and it is art as investment. (Or lottery, as the gamble is that it will sell for even more next time. It may, and then it may not.)
This sale is absolutely delightful for us pastel painters! 12 000 000 green bits of paper's worth of taking the medium seriously. The most expensive artwork sold. Wow!
No, dear critic, it is not "only" pastel. The pastels look like crayons, but are in reality almost pure pigment. I like to call them Pigment Ingots. Check the price of a high quality handmade stick of pastel, and you'll see why.
These pigments applied to materials that will withstand the ravages of time will stay fresh and bright, while oilpaint yellows and cracks. Pastels are a painting medium, as well as a drawing medium. (But so is any other medium.) The Munch isn't sold as a 'drawing'.
There are so many accomplished pastel artists all over the world. They know the worth of the medium, and now the rest of the world knows it too.
If you are looking for investing in a beautiful work of art which will look as fresh in 500 years as it does the day the artist takes it off the ease, then get pastel paintings. You are welcome to browse my pastel paintings, which can be yours.
And who knows, one day you'll sell the one you get for... well... let's be modest now -- say about $ 150 million!
Suddenly, that is a possibility, thanks to Munch!
6 Responses to $120 000 000 for a pastel painting
via charlotteherczfeld.com
If you spend $120 million for a painting, the cost of buying a frame with museum glass in it is negligible. Even at the more modest level of four and five figure paintings in galleries, you'd think they would just treat it as overhead. It's false economy to fuss over the cost of the glass and the inconvenience of spacers or matting.
We're living artists. I have no doubt my personal collection is going to be worth vast fortunes long after I'm gone, along with my sketchbooks and unsold drawings and paintings. Your paintings are a ludicrous bargain right now, comparable to people who knew Monet when he was just starting out and not famous yet. They are so powerful that I have a feeling you'll dominate more than one museum by the time I'm old.
via charlotteherczfeld.com
With paintings like that, or even those sold for about $ 3 000, museum glass is a small part of it.
However, it seems like the cost for regular water clear glass treated to give reduced reflection has lessened recently, as there are more manufactures of it. They take away about 80 percent of the glare, and that really helps, a lot. I'm going to shift to that kind of glass.
Ah, Robert, locally, where I live, prices are much lower. What the market is willing to pay, etc. Compared to the US, it is ludicrous. My work is priced 'normally', for here.
So yes, for Americans, they are a bargain. For now. I'm doing my best to change that. As I want to be rich before I knock on the pearly gate, demanding to be let into where the Old Masters are. What great conversations we'd have!
via charlotteherczfeld.com
You're right. Any painting with a four figure price, the museum glass is just a sensible investment even when it's expensive compared to normal clear glass. I'm not too worried about Orangerie because it hung somewhere quite dark actually, brought light onto a very dark wall. Here, I'll put Waffle House on the same wall as the window so there's no chance of sun patch crossing it.
I love that - the pastelist's varnish is glass! Yep. They will probably someday come out with an improved unbreakable glass for paintings too. Or better lightweight optical not-glass that serves the purpose.
via charlotteherczfeld.com
The unbreakable glass exists, as acrylic. If we think museum glass is expensive, then we can console ourselves when looking at the cost of acrylic museum...
I'd love a frame to generate an invisible energy field which works as a barrier just like a glass. It wouldn't even need cleaning. :-)
via charlotteherczfeld.com
That's not flattery, it's just my opinion. I don't say that to everyone, but I will say it's a slightly slanted opinion since I love your style and mastery of color.
Cool that there's museum grade acrylic. Too bad it's really expensive though. Then again, it'd be worth it for an expensive master painting and a lot safer for shipping than glass.
Interesting about the way those masters handled eyes. I'll have to take a very close look to see. I know the iris is usually curved, but didn't realize distorting it could make it more dramatic. Looking forward to seeing your copy!
via charlotteherczfeld.com