Another Warholian Zinger

The BBC reports that a Hong Kong art collector paid $17.36 million for this Andy Warhol painting of Mao Zedong.

Overall, $240 million of art was bought and sold last night, bringing to an end what the BBC called "a fortnight in which [auction companies] Christie's and rivals Sotheby's took $1bn between them. "

I don't know what's more ridiculous: the fact that people spent ONE BILLION DOLLARS (!!!) on art in 2 weeks, or the fact that the BBC still uses the word "fortnight."

Time Magazine reports on the same auction in the aptly named article "Portrait of a Bull Market." It concludes that high priced art markets usually come right before a recession in the overall economy. Sweet.

This reminds me of the scene where Daryl Hannah furnishes Charlie Sheen's apartment with all that gaudy art in the movie Wall Street. I hope the fate of the world economy is not nearly as destructive as Charlie Sheen's in the movie.