Art News: Potato Portrait Sold for $1.08 Million?
In what could be one of the most ridiculous and yet most amazing news in the world of art, a photogenic potato has been sold for €1 ($1.08) million.
According to CNN, renowned celebrity photographer Kevin Abosch sold a simple portrait of an organic Irish potato to a European businessman last year, marking one of the biggest headlines in the history of art and photography.
The anonymous businessman saw the portrait while he was dining at Abosch house in Paris, and unlike just the normal person who passes by pictures of fruits and vegetables, this buyer seemed to feel the story behind the artist's photo.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Abosch is reportedly one such artist who gets up to $500,000 for portraits of famous figures, and while he has apparently made loads of cash with his previous sales, the potato gave him the biggest catch yet in his career.
There are other artists who claimed earlier that their photos sold in the millions. One is Peter Lik, who said his "Phantom" sold $6.5 million in 2014. His claim has never been verified, meaning his beautiful photo can't be considered as one of the most expensive in the industry.
Called "Potato #345," the photo will be become the 15th most expensive photo that has ever been sold if the sale price is verified, but until then, the report remains a mystery as the buyer has also not been named.
On the other hand, Abosch is still well-known for many other accomplishments even if the photo's sales information never gets out in public. His portraits range from models, tech giants, actors, and other entertainment figures. Aside from Nobel Peace Prize Malala Yousafzai and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, he has also taken a notable photo of Bob Geldof, the famed Irish singer and activist.
Meanwhile, Abosch explained how his potato portrait came about. "I see commonalities between humans and potatoes that speak to our relationship as individuals within a collective species. Generally, the life of a harvested potato is violent and taken for granted. I use the potato as a proxy for the ontological study of the human experience," he said.
There are only three original copies of the said portrait, and while it is unclear what reasons the anonymous buyer had for falling in love with the humble spud, it is understandable that the world of art has so many aspects to draw inspiration from. In the case of the portrait, it is but a soiled and bashful potato.
