An Art Auction...

 Have you ever been to an auction...an art auction?

I have never been fortunate enough to actually be in that position or in other words rich enough to be able to bid at an art auction. I would love to as I just adore art; any art come to that. To own a famous picture painted by a great artist must be such a grand and wondrous feeling. I would just sit and look at it for hours...days!

I was on Instagram this morning and it was Sothebys New York. A live cross to an auction in real time and it was indeed fascinating.

I knew none of the artists. There were no famous names I had heard of but guess that's not really surprising as the majority of us would not know many of the collectable artists known and sought after.

I was surprised watching this live auction just how much money is floating around that must be surplus to requirements for so many to be able to buy art. Paying 6.. 7.. 9 million dollars for a painting to display on a wall of a home. I can just imagine what the actual house must be like. Or maybe some "super rich"  keep their treasures in a large luxurious security room just for their own eyes to enjoy.

One painting I was following was donated by a doctor in Los Angeles. and the money was to go to a charity which I couldn't quite catch the name of. It fetched over nine million dollars with bidding from around the world. What a grand thing to be able to do to donate just one painting from a collection  that he owned and raise so much money for charity. Just imagine the charity receiving such a large amount of money and the good work that will be done with it.

Fancy owning a Monet, Rembrandt Picasso the names are magic aren't they...well they certainly are to me. I doubt if I will ever own anything even remotely in that stratosphere but it's always nice to dream.

The homes that have such artwork on their walls must be magnificent with security to match.

The most expensive painting ever sold at auction was the famous haunting and very beautiful  Salvator Mundi ( Latin for "Savior of he World") painted by Leonardo Da Vinci and his depiction of Jesus Christ holding a crystal orb. It was sold at a contemporary art event at Christie's New York in 2016 which sold for a record 450.3 million dollars. The winning bidder was a Saudi Arabian Prince reportedly acting as a proxy to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Probably the world's most famous, also the most valuable art work, has to be the Mona Lisa...also by Leonardo Da Vinci. Believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506 and possibly Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517 two years before his death on May 2 1519 aged 67 years.

If the Mona Lisa was ever to come on to the market...which is indeed extremely unlikely...the latest figure 2021 it was valued at more than 870 Million Dollars.

It was acquired by King Francis 1 of France and is now on permanent display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797 or 1804..the dates vary..

So as I look through old antique shops and country markets for that elusive, yet undiscovered, famous art work...and they are STILL out there...I will continue my search 😏