| Wednesday, June 22, 2005 |
| BIDDERS GO BANANAS FOR ART BY CONGO THE CHIMP |
LONDON -- Monkey business proved to be lucrative Monday when paintings by Congo the chimpanzee sold at auction for more than US$25,000.
The three abstract, tempera paintings were auctioned at Bonhams in London alongside works by impressonist master Renoir and pop art provocateur Andy Warhol.
But while Warhol's and Renoir's work did'nt seel, bidders lavisehd attention on Congo's paintings.
An American bidder named Howard Hong, who described himself ad an "enthusiast of modern and contemporary painting," bought the lot of paintings for US$26,352, including a buyer's premium.
The sale price far surpassed predictions.
"We had no idea what these things were worth", said Howard Rutkowski, directorof modern ad=nd contemporary art at Bonhams. "We just put them in for oour own amusement".
Congo, born in 1954, produced about 400 drwaings and paintings between ages 2 and 4. He died in 1964 of tuberculosis.
His artwork provoked reactions ranging from scorn to skepticism among critics of the time, but Pablo Picasso is reported to have hung a Congo painting on his studio wall after receiving it as a gift.
"There's no precedent for things like this having been sold before", Rutkowski said.
(abstracted from the Associated Press report) |
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