Posted on 06/22/2005 9:22:28 AM PDT by Matchett-PI
LONDON -- Monkey business proved to be lucrative Monday when paintings by Congo the chimpanzee sold at auction for more than $25,000.
The three abstract, tempera paintings were auctioned at Bonhams in London alongside works by impressionist master Renoir and pop art provocateur Andy Warhol.
But while Warhol's and Renoir's work didn't sell, bidders lavished attention on Congo's paintings.
An American bidder named Howard Hong, who described himself as an ''enthusiast of modern and contemporary painting," bought the lot of paintings for $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, director of modern and contemporary art at Bonhams. "We just put them in for our own amusement."
Congo, born in 1954, produced about 400 drawings 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. AP
uuumm OK, Do have any evidence that Howard Hong and all the other people who bid on these paintings are secular humanist or even non-Christians? Or is this another case of you being so ashamed of your religion that in order to prop it up you have to attack people with different beliefs by making silly assertions?
Attacking people of "other" beliefs?
There are only two beliefs.
[1] God-centered one
[2] Each man as his own god-centered one.
Do you know of any other beliefs?
A lot better than Andy Warhol, to be sure. Of course that's not saying much.
That's for sure! One could say, "If you've seen one warhol, you've seen them all." LOL
I don't understand what that has to do with your unsubsaniated claim that only secular humanist bidded on these paintings.
Can you back up your assertion or not?
Meanwhile, scores of extra-chromosome hicks actually believe that "creation science" is an actual science.
ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.