http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10386048.stm
A self-portrait of French painter Edouard Manet, named ‘Manet a la Palette’ has been sold for a record sum of money. At Sutheby’s in London, the world oldest art auction house, the painting was auctioned at £22,441,250, the highest price ever paid for a Manet painting. The previous record was at 16 million pound sterling. The painting that was made between 1878 and 1879 shows a bearded Manet in a bowler hat, holding a thin painting brush. Experts say the high price was due to it only being one of two self-portraits ever made by the French Impressionist.
How special this particular painting may be, because it is one of his few self-portrait paintings, I still think it is strange that this painting collected so much money. It has always been regarded as Edouard Manet’s lesser work, with less artistic value than his other works. And still there are collectors who are prepared to pay such an extreme amount of money for it. Is it something of the recent times? It has caught my eye that a lot more art prices have reached records. Maybe it is because of the economic crisis, and art is seen as a stable investment in these hard times.
Like you, I'm amazed by the huge sums of money that are paid for some paintings. Wanting such a painting must give you some prestige, or it could be, as you said, bought as a stable investment. Art keeps its value and it cannot vanish into thin air (unlike money). It can be stolen but it's very hard to sell because people will recognize it quickly.
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