Jimson Weed by Georgia O’Keeffe Sells For $44.4 Million

[G_j]

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/a-white-flower-by-okeeffe-blooms-green-44-4-million/?_r=0l

A White Flower by O’Keeffe Blooms Green: $44.4 Million

By CAROL VOGEL NOVEMBER 20, 2014 11:38 AM

One of Georgia O’Keeffe’s classic flower paintings — “Jimson Weed (White Flower No. 1)” from 1932 – sold at Sotheby’s on Thursday morning for $44.4 million, nearly three times its $15 million high estimate.

The painting, which was being sold by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., to benefit its acquisitions fund, had belonged to the artist’s sister, Anita O’Keeffe Young, and for six years had hung in the private dining room in the White House during the George W. Bush administration. It has also been exhibited around the United States, as well as in London and Mexico City.

At least seven bidders went after the painting, officials at Sotheby’s said. The buyer, bidding by telephone through Lisa Dennison, a chairwoman at the auction house, wishes to remain anonymous, Sotheby’s said.

Sotheby’s sold the painting twice before, first in 1987, when it was included in property from the estate of the artist’s sister and went for $990,000, and again in 1994, for $1 million.



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All Hail Georgia O'Keeffe, The Highest-Selling Woman In Art Auction History

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/20/georgia-okeeffe-auction_n_6192634.html

The 1932 offering shown above, "Jimson Weed, White Flower No. 1," depicts one of O'Keeffe's favorite subjects: a magnified flower. To her, the delicate blooms stood as some of the most overlooked pieces of naturally occurring beauty, objects that the bustling contemporary world ignored. So she made it her mission to highlight their complex structures, explaining: “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."

Robert Kret, director of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, NM, announced the institution's decision to sell the work earlier this year. In an attempt to "refine its holdings," Kret and a team of curators opted to put "Jimson Weed," “On the Old Santa Fe Road,” and “Untitled (Skunk Cabbage)" on the auction block. They were expected to fetch, respectively, $10 million to $15 million, $2 million to $3 million and $500,000 to $750,000. "Jimson Weed" alone managed to quadruple the low end estimate.

The buyer wishes to remain anonymous, according to The New York Times.

Artist Joan Mitchell previously held the title for priciest female artist, setting a record with the $11.9 million sale of an untitled 1960 painting. The late Louise Bourgeois and Berthe Morisot have managed to make waves in recent years too. Among the top living female artists today are Cady Noland, Marlene Dumas, Bridgette Riley and Yayoi Kusama.

[bbernardini]

1. The buyer got ripped off. This doesn't look like female genitalia at all!

[NightWatcher]

2. I was just about to say "hey look, they found the one that doesn't look like a vagina"

[seveneyes]

3. Gerald Scarfe was born too late

[Octafish]

4. Worth every penny.

They don't make 'em like that any more.