Kevin Abosch’s potato picture has been sold for the whopping price of $1 million. Abosch’s photographic work simply titled “Potato #345” was purchased by a mysterious European businessman.
That is one expensive potato – and it is not even eatable. Kevin Abosch is an Irish visual artist, who has worked with some of the world’s most famous people.
He has photographed celebrities, and leaders such as Malala Yousafzai, Bob Geldof, Yoko Ono, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese politician and political prisoner who spent almost 15 years under home arrest, Johnny Depp, Vanessa Redgrave, Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman, and Dennis Hopper.
The 46-year-old portrait photographer typically charges up to $500,000 for pictures. Moreover, recently, Mr. Abosch sold what is being called one of the most expensive photographs in the world. The picture titled “Potato #345” is very simple and it features a potato against a black background, and Abosch took it in 2010.
The photograph was taken at Abosch’s Dublin home, and there are three versions of it. A big version was hanging on the wall of his Parisian apartment, a smaller version of the print is kept in his private collection, and an even smaller version is in the Museum of Contemporary Art Novi Sad in Serbia.
According to Abosch’s rep, earlier this month, a European mogul saw the picture and the sale was brokered over a few glasses of wine. The spokesperson confirmed that the photograph was sold for €1 million, or $1,086,810.
Abosch declined to be interviewed, but issued a brief statement where he said that he used the potato “as a proxy for the ontological study of the human experience,” and he added:
“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.”
“Potato #345” is the 15th most expensive photo ever sold, the record holder is Andreas Gursky, who made $4.3 million at a Christie’s auction in 2011 for a picture called “Rhein II” (see it below). In 2014, photographer Peter Lik claimed that his “Phantom” (picture added below) had surpassed that record, “officially making art history” by selling for $6.5 million, but the sale was not proven.
What are your thoughts on the “Potato #345” photo?
Picture: Rhein II Price: $4 million by Andreas Gursky, Rhein river in Germany is little more than green and grey. pic.twitter.com/tFQpRwiqN8
— Expensive (@EXPENSlVE) July 2, 2014
#Australian photographer #peterlik has a good day…this is what a 6.5 million dollar photograph looks like. pic.twitter.com/XwLgfWnxGL
— linda s dupar (@lsduparty) January 22, 2016
