It’s another case of that saying, “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like.”
What to me looks like a bad snapshot from a boring vacation turns out to be worth a record $4.3 million, at least according to the person who shelled out that much dough to win an auction for a photo of the Rhine by German artist Andreas Gursky.
The glass-mounted panoramic color print is one of six editions of the work. Apparently the auction winner isn’t the only person who appreciates this piece, as the other editions are on display in New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Tate Modern in London.
The $4.3 million tops the previous record set just six months ago of $3.89 million for Cindy Sherman’s self portrait, but it’s nowhere near the $106.5 million that a Picasso painting earned last year.
This makes that tintype photo of Gen. Robert E. Lee that went for $23,000 in a Goodwill auction look like a real bargain.