One Painting vs. 20 minutes of US Gasoline Consumption
Posted by sarah
 By now, you've probably heard that Lucien Freud's portrait of Sue Tilley, Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (at right) , has sold for £17.2 million, making Freud the highest payed living artist in history. But have you been keeping up with the subsequent chatter? - Kira Cochrane riffs on Freud's relationship to his muse at The Guardian: "Down the ages, the role of artist has almost always been taken by a
man, the role of muse by a woman, and in this relationship we have seen
the clearest, most delineated understanding of man as active, powerful
subject, and woman as passive, benumbed, decorative object."
- And Annika Mengisen asks, "What does $33.6 million mean in the art world?" at The New York Times: "Does this symbolize a thriving art market, is it a happy exception, or is it even worth the price? According to one estimate, the money paid for the painting could have paid for 20 minutes of America’s gasoline consumption."
- See what artists are saying at Art News about the size of the model, the merit of arguably "ugly" images in our arguably "ugly" world and concepts of truth and beauty in contemporary art.
Overheard
5/27/2008 9:45:51 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
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