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Billionaire Chinese "Beverly Hillbilly" Pays $170 Million For Naked Woman At Christie's
Back in May, we noted that if the Eccles cabal was looking for signs of hyperinflation, they could just head over to Christie’s and try to buy a "vibrant, multi-hued riot of colors that focuses mainly on a scantily dressed woman.”
That’s how WSJ described Picasso’s "Women of Algiers (Version O)" which went for a record $179,365,000 in a “dogged contest” at auction:
A month later, we said that classic cars seem to be in a bubble as well (although we also suggested it could be about to burst) with a 1955 Mercedes 300SL gullwing going for $2.5 million.

And then there's the real estate market, where billions in capital fleeing China, ZIRP, NIRP, and the fact that trillions in global QE has served to inflate the fortunes of billionaires have led directly to soaring prices. As one Monaco-based shipping and real estate magnate told Bloomberg in May, "people want trophy homes. They’re a scarce commodity. And they’re better than gold because you can boast about it."
Right. Well now, a "Chinese bidder" gets to "boast" about owning an outstretched nude by Modigliani which just went for $170.4 million with fees at Christie’s - it was the second-highest price paid at auction in history.

Here's The New York Times with more:
The painting became the 10th work of art to reach nine figures under the hammer. The bidding was palpably tense, with six people vying for the lot, and it took nine minutes to sell, with the winning bid coming from a Chinese buyer on the phone.
The seller of the Modigliani, Laura Mattioli Rossi, the daughter of the Italian collector Gianni Mattioli, was guaranteed at least a $100 million minimum price. Just before the sale, Christie’s announced that a third party had stepped forward to share the risk — as well as any proceeds above the guaranteed price.

And here's more from CRI on the Chinese bidder and the "tense" auction:
Chinese collector Liu Yiqian spent 1.084 billion yuan ($170.4 million) on a Modigliani nude painting at Christie's in New York on Monday, a new record for a Modigliani piece, according to Artron.net.
It is also the second-highest price ever for a work of art at auction, second only to Pablo Picasso's Women of Algiers, which sold for $179 million at Christie's in May.
Liu Yiqian, the man who founded the Long Museum in Shanghai with his wife, always makes a stir with his buying. He bought an imperial embroidered silk Thangka for about $45 million and a Doucai Chenghua "chicken cup" for $36 million last year.
Some half-dozen bidders competed for the canvas, which had remained in the same private collection for some 60 years and was offered as the highlight of a specially curated "Artist's Muse" sale, comprising 34 works in total.
In a packed salesroom marked by deliberate but determined competition, bidding started at $75 million - already more than Modigliani's auction record of $70.7 million - and ticked upwards in $5 million increments before a telephone bidder prevailed at $152 million.
The final price was $170,405,000 including Christie's' commission of just over 12 percent. The auction house had estimated the canvas would fetch more than $100 million.
Back to The Times:
Liu Yiqian, a former taxi driver turned billionaire art collector, confirmed on Tuesday that he was the buyer of the painting of a nude woman by Amedeo Modigliani that sold for $170.4 million at Christie’s New York on Monday night.
Speaking by telephone from Shanghai, the Chinese collector said he planned to bring the work back to the city, where he and his wife have two private museums.
In April, Bloomberg described Liu Yiqian as a "Chinese Beverly Hillbilly" who sips tea from 15th century Ming dynasty ceramic cups:
In July he caused an online furor in China for drinking tea from a 500-year-old ceramic bowl that once belonged to revered Emperor Qianlong. A photo went viral showing him dressed in a short-sleeved, plaid shirt, with an incipient smirk as he raised the precious, palm-size “Chicken Cup” to his lips.
China’s netizens couldn’t decide which was more outrageous, his treatment of the historic artifact or the record $36 million he paid for it at a Sotheby’s sale in Hong Kong. Even his settlement for the bowl was theatrical: 24 separate swipes of his American Express Centurion card. He said he didn’t even realize that he qualified for hundreds of millions of reward points.
Conspicuous consumption isn’t new among the billionaires minted during China’s economic boom. But shows of wealth are considerably rarer since Xi came to power in 2012 and began a corruption crackdown that’s netted thousands of officials, some from the top echelons of power. Ten days after Liu’s tea-drinking stunt, the Communist Party said it was investigating former internal security chief Zhou Yongkang.
“I’m not nervous at all, because all my wealth is out in the open and there is nothing to worry about,” Liu says in an interview in one of his Shanghai museums. “Every country has experienced an anti-corruption campaign at some time.”
As if to prove the point, the AmEx card was out again last month for a Tibetan embroidered silk thangka he’d won for $45 million at an auction in November.
Anyway, you can read more about Liu in the Bloomberg article cited above. The point, for now, is that while DM central banks insist that due to a persistent "deflationary" impulse, what we need is still more QE which will only serve to inflate the financial assets of the world's Liu Yiqians, central planners are creating massive asset bubbles in everything from real estate to Modiglianis to ceramic bowls.
As for Liu, we'll just say that paying $170 million for paintings of naked women doesn't sound like the kind of thing Xi would approve of...
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ellie mae?
'zat you?
Most expensive ugly porn, ever...
I'm sure you can download better for free... not that I've ever ever tried.
My thoughts exactly. That is some real expensive porn.
Is The Global Art Market Another Massive Multi-decade Fraud?
http://themillenniumreport.com/2015/05/the-global-art-market-mother-of-a...
"The Global ART Market: Mother Of All Bubbles"
Add up all the money spent related to/by my wife.... yeah, I could see $170MM. Somewhere around that number.
"The final price was $170,405,000 including Christie's' commission of just over 12 percent."
So, that means Christie's got over $20,000,000 just for hanging the stupid picture on their wall and banging the gavel?! Sheeeeit.... the uber-wealthy are insane... terminally insane.
Art at these prices is just a form of money laundering. The price has nothing to do with the value of the piece. More info here:
http://mileswmathis.com/launder.pdf (pdf)
Nudity is hardly pornography.
" ... a former taxi driver ...."
Smells fishy.
This.
"Nudity is hardly pornography."
Exactly. He got ripped off.
I paint.
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/S6MAAOSwxH1UIZ8d/s-l1600.jpg
I paint too. Make a living at it too.
http://www.craigerickson.net/originals.htm
There is more than one art market. The extreme high end art market is a fantasy world. Don't get me wrong, I would be willing to take 7 figures for a painting, but this is not where the vast majority of professional artists live. That's why I get a bit miffed at people here who comment about "the art market," but really don't know what they are talking about.
paint I do not think we got it wrong...it takes real skill and genius to make something of beauty..but they make art obscene when the value of one's paint strokes suck up such wealth that has the ability to change the living standards of so many..that is obscene.
funny but most artists never see the big sums as they are long dead,,only auction houses and "investors" get the benefit of genius.
Why is it that art is one the few occupations where people feel it is okay to pass judgement on how much the work should be worth?
This flat pisses me off!
First, artists are generally not the ones getting paid in these big auctions. Second, why is it morally wrong for someone to spend their own money the way they want--foolish or not? Why does it only seem to be that there is some kind of moral element if someone pays big money for a painting? With your logic, we should all be riding bicycles because of all the ability of all that money going to cars to change the living standards of so many...
paint you might be a good painter, but you are a little slow on the uptake..think it thru ..riding bikes was a thread a little while ago some saw value in it.. now try as a human being to understand the point of wasted capital on this painting vs opening business ventures or backing new business ..try hard to think. this price for a painted canvas is immoral as hell.
Very nice. I am glad you have sales. There are many good artists that have not sold a thing in a while.
Assume you work hard on your presence and SEO.
Why one earth would anyone 'download' porn?
It is the best way to get trojan's and spyware. Makes work for the Geek Squad types.
Hu Lee Fuk!!
My last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do... www.wallstreet34.com
Wow! Some Ting Wong! Or Too Muh Yen?
wtg bernanke
Why does she have ass cheeks leading to her vagina? Is this some sort of anal porn for people who are afraid to do anal? Don't get me wrong, I'd fuck that cartoon right in her ass pussy. Just confused why this is hundred million dollar art.
I am up voting you because I don't know whether to be impressed or repulsed by your ass pussy theory
It's an allegory on the vicissitudes of life and how they distort our perceptions, couldn't you tell?
Now, yer jist mekkin' thet up, arnt yew?
It depicts a dream representing Man's triumph over Women. The woman's gaze is cast just outside the canvas to a sweaty biker wearing a dirty wife beater and holding a chain made of rose stems.
It's really a Pissedoffcosto. He does that when he paints, you see distortion where he sees reality.
Better naked woman then naked man pictures. The foreigners got it right.
Nice Bush, I mean Brush...
"I'll Pay ANYTHING to get out of fiat and into something I can put under my arm and take with me on my Gulfstream.".... This is called a run on the bank
Hope he doesn't walk around his house swinging elbows.
I Bet his friends called him Modigs
A whatalini? Dafuq is that and who cares?
A cool artist
If you say so.
Looks like a cancelled shave job on that woman.
That is funny, trimming and edging is a relatively new "personal styling" choice.
"Choice" of course mandated/manipulated by the pictures rammed into our eyeballs along with "informed" commentary abour what is "hip", "trendy" "a must do or be outcast", and what is not.
What does it matter? Especially in the USSA that still views nudity as taboo and somehow connected directly to sex, deviant behavior etc..
Of course you would not assume that from the internet.
Wikipedia says he's worth $1.3 bil (mostly in real estate) and he's spent close $300 mil on 5 pieces of art? Talk about illiquid.
I know some of the guys that compete in these auctions and they are stunned at the way some people are overpaying.
well they're wrong, nobody's actually overpaying, it's just moneyloundering !
it's unimportant who buys the shit, look at the seller
And half the time, the buyer isn't the one actually taking final possession of the work anyway.
let me explain :
you've got 10 stinky dirty millions you wanta wash and you have that painting that values hum ... nobody actually cares but let's say 10 millions.
put it for sale
Mr Wu comes up and buys the painting for 20 millions (and you gave him a nice bag full of 10 millions of your dirty cash)
Mr Wu is happy, he can pretend he bought the shit for 20 mils and still have 10 mils cash he would spend easily in china or some other country were nobody cares about where the cash comes from
and as for you, you've cleaned you 10 mils ... and capital gains on art pieces is conviniently not taxed in you country !
conclusion : tax those capital gains and see those little marvels' prices plummet like it's 29'
Overpaying implies that there is a 'correct' price for the item. How can anyone determine that price? Did it cost only $5 to dig it out of the ground or is it whatever some fool is willing to pay for it. The only intrinsic value for that painting is as fuel for a campfire in the apocalypse, other than that it's worth what some (Chinese money laundering fool) is willing to pay for it. If he trades it for 23,000 acres of Iowa farmland, which is the current exchange rate, then he successfully moved assets out of China. Think of the painting like petrodollars, not worth anything except as a temporary means of trading for what you want.
Nicer to look at than seashells, easier to get through customs than gold or cash. Not tracked and taxed like 0s and 1s on a piece of plastic.
Yes, but quantitative easing in the US, Europe and China has caused great market distortions. This price might be what a recipient of this easy "money" will pay in the current market, but being in a loose monetary policy environment, it is highly likely this is an extreme bubble price, and he is a greater fool.
Hell with that kind of money I could pay real women to lay around my house nude 24 hours a day
...and probably get some fringe benefits.
Avoid fringe, damn near impossible to clean that stuff after the fact.
Touche
Darkest night, candlelight
Your hands were soft, your skin too pale
White on white, I had to turn away
From your light
You reminded me of this:
I ache for the touch of your lips, dear,
But much more for the touch of your whips, dear.
You can raise welts
Like nobody else,
As we dance to the masochism tango.
Let our love be a flame, not an ember,
Say it's me that you want to dismember.
Blacken my eye,
Set fire to my tie,
As we dance to the masochism tango.
At your command
Before you here I stand,
My heart is in my hand. ecch!
It's here that I must be.
My heart entreats,
Just hear those savage beats,
And go put on your cleats
And come and trample me.
Your heart is hard as stone or mahogany,
That's why I'm in such exquisite agony.
My soul is on fire,
It's aflame with desire,
Which is why I perspire
When we tango.
You caught my nose
In your left castanet, love,
I can feel the pain yet, love,
Ev'ry time I hear drums.
And I envy the rose
That you held in your teeth, love,
With the thorns underneath, love,
Sticking into your gums.
Your eyes cast a spell that bewitches.
The last time I needed twenty stitches
To sew up the gash
That you made with your lash,
As we danced to the masochism tango.
Bash in my brain,
And make me scream with pain,
Then kick me once again,
And say we'll never part.
I know too well
I'm underneath your spell,
So, darling, if you smell
Something burning, it's my heart.
Excuse me!
Take your cigarette from it's holder,
And burn your initials in my shoulder.
Fracture my spine,
And swear that you're mine,
As we dance to the masochism tango.
copyright <a href="http://elyrics.net" rel="nofollow">http://elyrics.net</a>
Click bait for his walls
Confucius say one in Kate Bush is worth ten in the hand.
So all this "good investment" art, classic cars, real estate is going to survive a nuclear hollocaust and after that you can trade them for food with....o wait.
O well, at least you have enjoyed them for a couple of years without standing in line for the local museum.
Beautiful painting. 170 mill is a bit rich for me though so i'll settle for a copy...hell, maybe i'll dust of my brushes and try painting it my self.
I'd love to hear the new owner trying to pronounce the artist's name.
Moo-dick-ree-ronny
I could have painted that
I thought the same, you or me. Might do better.
So could millions of other folks, but your not Modigliani. There are a bunch of other factors for buying "art". If I get enough hype, I could sell a painting, by a monkey, for millions of $$. Just like the commercial of the mother and daughter at the action buying art and saying "Like daddy always says,,, money don't spend itself", plenty of dumbass's with money
It's his fiat, he can do with it as he pleases until everyone stops believing in it. And even then he will have some pretty pictures and a nice cup!
I see his behavior as some astute cultural critique. Show us the absurdity of the money system by treating the fiat and art in this irreverent manner.
The painting and cup are like fiat currency, you have to have everyone believing the emperor has clothes on for the scheme to work.
If it were a transgender nude the American billionaires would have doubled down.
I guess he likes white chicks.
I wonder how many times he has to beat off in front of that thing to pay for itself,
not to say what the picture would look like by then.
He could set up a "spray and pay" station, have the world's longest most expensive ongoing Bukkake session.
She is technically more of a peach chick than a white chick, but she would be white by the time the performance piece was finished.
Agreed - no way that paint is spunk proof. Maybe he could put a glass shield in front. he's got enough $$$ to pay a squeegee man
Her nipples are a bit small.
What's more to say.
O, and "Bush" is out !
Agreed; but otherwise a pretty nice piece of 19th century trim.
Winner, winner naked chicken dinner!
Now he will always own a 'piece' of art history. Just think what the $$$ value of an original sex robot version 1.0 will be some day...
On gunboards.com all the hillbillies sing the praises of some clown who paid $12,000 for a Mosin rifle, saying "such a great investment."
All while John Sheehan mocks them, "that's how the wealthy roll, boys."
Should have used one of those cash-back cards.
AND bought it thru Ebates
Ebates is evil! I joined at fatwallet.com, and it took many hours removing its evil filters that messed with my ABP. It entered many entries into my Adblock Plus negating its effect, so I could not block ads in places like Amazon.
You are warned.......beware.
Maybe he did -- Centurion cards have a limit of $1.5M per transaction, so he would have had to swipe the card 114 times. But what will he do with the 17 Billion AMEX reward points?
With a strategically cut circle, this could be the world's most expensive Glory Hole..I'd call it "Chick with a Dick" and hang it in some Porn Shop's back room...
Lasha Darkmoon has written an essay on this artless fraud; http://www.theoccidentalobserver.com/2009/09/the-plot-against-art-part-1/
high end art...a scam, and everybody with real wealth plays..heck pay some thick necked ape 100 mil to throw footballs and call them great. distortions of true value must happen when fiat money systems rule. debased culture using debased fiat money..on this one mr chinaman, set the price. some tech billionaire will match it.
170 mil spent on creating jobs for the out of work is so common so middle class, no, to be elite ,is to spit on such use of money.
if our money was worth something it would have a relationship to how much effort and sweat went into producing the item, from teams of skilled people..one off multimillon yuan paintings show the contempt the common worker is held in.
Sounds like Japan in the 80's when they were paying USD 100mill for a couple of pictures of Sunflowers....... Anyhow it is a better place to store ones money than in a chinese bank and is easier to take out of the country when it all goes Pete Tong.....
A predictable response to Playboy's new policy.
nicely trimmed pubes anyway
speaking of income inequality, collectibles for the middle class, Hummel figures and such are in a bear market. i researched some things my parents bought over fifty years ago, they're worth about what they paid for them.
these paintings are of course unique and for the 1% buying collectibles, (or sports franchises) its a one way ticket to more wealth. if you want to see how worthless most of this stuff is watch Pawn Stars. the seller then smiles and takes his $200 and goes to dinner. putting on the Top Hat.
i would be ready to pay up to 200$ to not have this trash in my room
Fuck! It's always the other guy that gets the great deals.
the modigliani shows good artistic taste and the vacuity of money.
When art meets money shit meets the fan of hubris.
pornhub's art is better
Chinese are learning from Caballah tricks , have the monei & hide it too.