$23.1M for This Piece of Crap?

$23.1M for This Piece of Crap? Listen, we love contemporary American sculpture as much as the next guy, but when we heard that Larry Gagosian paid more than twenty-three million dollars for this David Smith sculpture (Cubi XXVII), we threw up a little bit in our mouth. You could make a better metal sculpture by stacking up silver kitchen parts from the Bowery, for godsakes! We're sure Larry did it as an investment, but we hope that he doesn't have to keep this thing in his living room until he can sell it to some museum.

For a much better piece of modern sculpture, check out Rachel Whiteread's Water Tower, currently on view on the roof of the MOMA, and visible from the garden downstairs.

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By Jake Dobkin in Arts and Events on November 11, 2005 4:00 PM

Comments [rss]

diabolix

Just because you don't like it means that it sucks or that it is not an important piece. Art is always criticized by those who are small minded enough to think that know what a piece is about without actually knowing it's relation to other pieces, it's relation to other artists, or it's relation to history. I personally don't like this piece but I do see it in relation to other artists such as Siah Armajani, George Ricky, and Louise Nevelson.

j0sh

i really don't think one needs art school to make something that unquestionably bad.

xxx

you guys are all dickholes... who care about the sculpture, youre just a buncha poor jealous bastards, look who shoulda gone to art school now!

caryn

This sculpture may indeed suck, but it's not the sculpture that sold for that much $.

Bill

Also, discrepancies in buyers and bidding and exact prices do not cover the fact that this sculpture sucks.

caryn

Also, you have the wrong piece in your post and depicted in the picture. The piece at auction was CUBI XXVIII and you have CUBI XXVII - similar but different. Additionally, CUBI XXVIII sold for $23,816,000 not $23.1 mil.

art

Whiteread is a one trick pony

caryn

Actually, Larry Gagosian did not buy the Smith sculputre. He bid on it for LA uber collector Eli Broad who couldn't be in attendance. I guess Yahoo News missed that part. Artinfo.com has the exclusive with Broad on the purchase - http://www.artinfo.com/NEWS/scoop_2005-11-11.htm

Enjoy!

zack

hm.

ripped straight from the headlines of....Drudge??

S.D.

No, Really Jake, Tell us what you think...

;-)

Must be nice having that much Disposable Money.

Hey, I think my 3 year old nephew stackes wooden blocks like that!