Billionaire casino owner and art collector Steve Wynn made a splash when he guzzled his spinach and launched an aggressive bid for Popeye. According to reports, Wynn landed Steve Koons’ scultpure of Popeye for $28 million at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Auction last week. The sculpture was one of three made by Koons who specializes in oversized, shiny sculptures of balloon dogs, toy trains and tulips.
The Popeye is destined to make his home at Wynn’s casino in Las Vegas. So next time you are at Wynn’s Hotel in Las Vegas say hello to the 2,000 pound Popeye. Still, despite the rarity of the Popeye does it justify the excessive price tag? The other two statues are owned by megadealer Larry Gagosian owns one and hedge funder Steven Cohen.
Whether the statue is magnificent or Popeye represents the “beginning and end of pop art” it’s an awfully large amount of money to pay for a statue (even if you’re a billionaire).
The news of the Popeye statue sale comes on the heels of a huge week of art sales by Sotheby’s rival Christie’s. They auctioned off several Warhol paintings and more to the tune of close to $800 million dollars. Statues and paintings had a pretty good week didn’t they?
Image via Sotheby’s
