A sculpture of a kneeling Hitler by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was sold for a record $17.2 million (Rs 114 crore) by Christie’s on 8 May.
The sale was the first of the week-long New York auctions of modern, post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s New York.
Cattelan’s controversial sculpture called “Him” appears as a small child in a gray woolen suit kneeling in prayer when approached from the rear. From the front, viewers see Hitler with his hands clasped together as he gazes upward.
According to Times of India, the sculpture made of resin, real human hair and wax, has constantly found itself in the centre of controversy with the maker himself claiming that he had wanted to destroy it several times.
I wanted to destroy it myself, I changed my mind a thousand times, every day. Hitler is pure fear. It’s an image of terrible pain. It even hurts to pronounce his name. And yet that name has conquered my memory. It lives in my head, even if it remains taboo.Maurizio Cattelan, Artist
The sale was as part of a themed auction called “Bound to Fail,” a selection of 39 works of modern and contemporary art exploring the idea of commercial failure and risk-taking to expand the boundaries of art.
The bidder who bought the piece over the phone for $17.2 Million exceeded expectations for the piece which was estimated to be sold at $10 Million.
Christe’s press release pointed out that that the piece has caused outrage several times when previously exhibited. In 2010, the mayor of Milan forbid the reproduction of a poster illustrating a photograph of the sculpture, and in 2012, the work was publicly exhibited in a former ghetto in Warsaw.
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