How can an object that has been so basically crafted from an Earthly material warrant so much money?! Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian artist who worked in France. His modernist style was characterized by influences from mask-like faces and the elongation of these forms. He lived a modest life, and ended up struggling with poverty, overwork, and an addiction to alcohol and narcotics. All this, little recognition. Just surviving must've been a struggle... How surprising then that this sculpture, created between 1910 - 1912, fetched a whopping 43.2 million euros (£35.8 m) at Christie's auction house in Paris this month! It brings up all regular questions associated with art; Why is it worth so much? Why are artists only recognized/rewarded once dead? How is Damien Hirst able to make so much cash alive, when arguably more talented artists can't make any money from their work - barely enough to get by on whilst living??
Plus, I thought we were supposed to be stuck in the worst global recession since the war years?! (Although, it was probably somewhere like a private bank that paid out) I wonder what has drawn such attention from the 'art buying World'? You'd expect works by Picasso, Matisse, etc. to get the interest they receive, by why Modigliani?! Why now? It was Giacometti not so long ago?
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