«GOOD BUSINESS IS THE BEST ART»

Records fell at auction in New York and London this week, with two sensational prices made in very different fields. In New York, Tuesday’s sale at Sotheby’s of the late Clarence Day’s small but very fine collection of antiquities was a “white glove” affair, meaning that every one of the 38 lots sold. Taking pride of place was a marble bust of Antinous, the beautiful youth beloved of Emperor Hadrian, whom Hadrian deified after his mysterious death in AD 130. Dating from AD 130-138, it was the only known classical representation of Antinous, apart from coins, to be identified by an inscription – “M. Lucius Flaccus (dedicated this) to the hero/god Antinous”. The bust’s $2m-$3m estimate was left in the dust when a European collector, during an 11-minute three-way bidding battle, was forced to pay $23.8m for the prize.

-Financial Times
Dec 10 2010