Sometimes the art world is so perplexing – on Monday night Sotheby’s Hong Kong sold “The Kaws Album” by Kaws for $14.7 million. For perspective’s sake the painting’s high estimate was set at $1 million, it’s only been a year since his sales reached over the million dollar mark and his auction high – prior to Monday – was $2.7 million… crazy! The piece is a riff on the Beatles’ album cover for Srg. Pepper… parodied first by the Simpson’s creators and subsequently by Kaws… by replacing the original cross section of cultural dynamos with Simpson’s and now “Kimpsons” characters, the artist is drawing from and commenting on pop culture – prompting comparisons to Andy Warhol. After the sale Kaws posted on his insta, “what a strange morning…Do I think my work should sell for this much? No “. Lastly to make it even weirder the rumour mill is spinning and people are questioning whether Justin Bieber was the buyer.
Howard495 is an Art Consultancy with a dynamic space specializing in secondary market work with a focus on the global market. Krista Howard, H495’s art consultant and dealer, invites you to come explore the gallery at your leisure and immerse yourself in art work from local, national and international artists.