Top Of The Auction Heap (this week) Holy Mona

 

PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust Signed ‘Picasso’ (upper right) oil on canvas 63 3/4 x 51 in. (162 x 130 cm.) Completed on 8 March 1932

 

Good Day 2U,

I must say that dead artists get paid really well.  The above painting by the late great Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso sold this week at auction for a cool $106.5 million USD (£70.3 million) at Christie's in New York – And hey, since our Canadian dollar is now above par with the U.S. dollar, at today’s currency exchange that would be a mere

$110,246,277.56 CAD.

Not a bad days wage.  Picasso completed the painting in a single 1932 day.

As good as that sounds Jackson Pollock still has the record for the most expensive painting sale on record.  I think Jackson took longer to paint it so his per diem rate may be lower than Pablo’s.

Read more about the painting and the sale in an article published online by the Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/7684384/Our-passion-for-Picasso.html

Jackson Pollock’s 1948 painting entitled No. 5 1948 was arguably his greatest masterwork, the most vivid expression of the painter’s unique style.  When it was sold by David Geffen in 2006, it became the world’s most expensive painting in history at a price-adjusted $149.70 million dollars USD.  That would be

$155,161,149.51 CAD

 

No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock, 

243.8 cm × 121.9 cm (96 in × 48 in), oil on fiberboard

 

Not for sale lately.  However . . .

Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda or La Joconde)

by Leonardo de ser Piero da Vinci, oil on poplar,

77 cm × 53 cm (30 in × 21 in)

Before a 1962–3 tour, the painting was assessed, for insurance purposes, as valued at $100 million; the insurance was not bought, instead more money was spent on security.

$100 million in 1962 is approximately $700 million USD when adjusted for inflation using the US Consumer Price Index.  That is about $726,528,110.33 CAD in today’s loonies.  Thank you Leo.

The Mona Lisa was stolen by a Louvre employee in 1911.According to the Wikipedia article Pablo Picasso was a suspect at one point in the investigation.

“French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who had once called for the Louvre to be "burnt down," came under suspicion; he was arrested and put in jail. Apollinaire tried to implicate his friend Pablo Picasso, who was also brought in for questioning, but both were later exonerated.”

Here is a link to some interesting info about Mona.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JrstY0pRy6gJ:www.lairweb.org.nz/leonardo/mona.html+what+would+the+Mona+Lisa+sell+for+today&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

 

And here is some affordable art by a live artist still wearing two ears.

 

ciao,

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada

 

May Day And Voices In The Tower Lobby

40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic painting on canvas by John R Redmond

 

Hi Everybody,

Happy May To U ALL,

May Day has been here and we are moving on. 

Spring has fully sprung for all in Ah-Tah-Wah.

Today I have posted photos of my latest completed painting.   One of its’ series siblings remains in the final stages.

Below are a few as it happened painting process photos.  I took these photos at different stages during the process of painting this canvas.  You can view the same and a few more in the previous blog posting titled, “Leonard Cohen For Governor General . . . Doo Dum Dum Dum Dee Doo Dum Dum”.

 

I paint therefore I am. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Texture of Flow Motion.

 

And, the instruments of Joy.

 

I was loitering in the lobby of the Tower of Song one day, not long ago, and could barely contain myself upon hearing the melodies of passion from above.   As the heroes passed through I thought of you and what I spoke of in confidence.  I too, am not the sort of chap to keep something of such importance to myself so I share it all, especially with you.  A  song came to my mind because, even in the lobby of the Tower you hear these funny voices.

The lyrics are here below so keep on scrolling.

Click on any image to view it enlarged.
If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries and/or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to eBay.
I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces) or use the painting images on the right side of this blog page to zoom there instantly. You can find me on Facebook, MySpace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7)

 

Detail; 40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic painting on canvas by John R Redmond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above;  details of 40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic painting on stretched canvas by John R Redmond

 

 

Colour The World 

by John R Redmond (composed in the Tower lobby)

 

Every picture shares a story

A thousand words could never tell

Every heart has a painting

Over the world to cast a spell

From a gallery of wonder

Endless Flow Motion of a deep silent well

 

Colour the World

Colour the World

I want to colour the World

With a painting of my heart

 

 

On the palette of our mind

Ten thousand shades of rainbow hue

All the brushstrokes of a lifetime

And the canvas it is true

Every brush mark is such a dream

Masterful creation, none more than me-you

 

Colour the World

Colour the World

I want to colour the World

With a painting of my heart

 

 

No word of confusion

Can lay down the images

Of our coming apart

From the very core of Being

But a painting of our heart

Can colour the world

 

Colour the World

Colour the World

I want to colour the World

With a painting of my heart

 

 

View Full Album

40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic painting on canvas by John R Redmond

For a nice meditative experience open the album and view the images in full screen slide show mode.

 

In case I have not made myself perfectly intelligible to some who have asked; Finger pointing to the moon I say;

It is what It is and I am what I am.  I AM. Wakeup Johnny. Tat Twam Asi (and all that that).  To quote a couple helpful friends;  “If silence were gold, I’d be a rich man.”;  “Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind…”;  “I don’t need to believe, ‘cause I know.”  To repeat my selves; “She’s at home in her dream.  Seamless what she can see . . . She’s a mystery to me.”;  “Lucifer, good friend, hold my hand.  The rap you’ve taken for man is a cryin’ shame.”;  “Heaven is alive and well living in the eyes of a man on the street.  Sound before the sound. One, two, three.  Point of you and me.”; ‘’Trurth is a mystery, I must confide.  It’s very fuzzy, moving side to side.” Kill Bill if you see him walking along the road.

Oh oh, now I’m hearing voices again.

Almost forgot. At the request of a fan I made this wee collage of my paintings. Feel free to share.

 

 

I’d best be moving on now to a lobby down the road.

Enjoy your wilderness paddling way but put the canoe down on shore.

 

 

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada