abstract
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“A painting is not a picture of an experience, but is the experience.”
Mark Rothko
No. 10
1958
oil on canvas
94 ¼ x 69 ¼ in.
Price realised
USD 81,925,000
776387713665531904
“My painting is not violent, it’s life that is violent. Even within the most beautiful landscape, in the trees, under the leaves, the insects are eating each other; violence is a part of life. We are born with a scream; we come into life with a scream and maybe love is a mosquito net between the fear of living and the fear of death.”
Francis Bacon
Study for Portrait
1977
oil and dry transfer lettering on canvas
78 x 58 1/8 in.
Price realised
USD 49,812,500
776160771435560960
what happens when you let your art be ‘influenced’ by other artists? – Tara Leaver
“And the big daddy that I learned from all this: I actually CAN’T paint like other artists, and nor do I want to. That’s the best thing this exercise has taught me over the years; it’s fun to experiment, to try out what other artists are doing, but if I only ever did that I’d be unfulfilled and dissatisfied. I’d be surrounded by a vegetarian buffet and craving steak.”
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“There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.”
Helen Frankenthaler
Elberta
1975
acrylic on canvas
79 x 97 in.
Price realised
USD 4,285,000
774951361399963648
UPDATE: It’s finally on the blockchain! The offer is now available—let me know if you’re interested. with Foundation
The Unified Field of Consciousness Series: Gravitational.
2023
Digital art
3000 x 4500 px
Software: Adobe Illustrator
Created by the human mind and handcrafted.
774845372804857856
“I am primarily painting from photographs these days (from illustrated magazines but also from family photos), in a sense this is a stylistic problem, the form is naturalistic, even though the photograph is not nature at all but a prefabricated product (the “second-hand world” in which we live), I do not have to intervene artistically with style, since the stylization (deformation in form and color) contributes only under very particular circumstances toward clarifying and intensifying an object or a subject (generally stylization becomes the central problem which obscures everything else (object, subject), it leads to an unmotivated artificiality, an untouchable formalist taboo.”
Gerhard Richter
Abstraktes Bild
signed, inscribed and dated ‘809-4 Richter 1994’ (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
88 5⁄8 x 78 3⁄4 in. (225 x 200 cm.)
Painted in 1994.
Price realised
USD 38,175,000
774712928735789056
Fine vs Decorative Art
If a painting is created mainly to match a luxurious interior rather than to express something deeply personal or challenge ideas, then it leans more toward decorative art, even if it’s technically a painting. It becomes part of the decor rather than a standalone statement.
That raises an interesting question—does the intent of the artist or the way the artwork is used define whether it’s fine art or decorative art? If someone paints with raw emotion and meaning but it ends up as a luxury wall piece, does that change what it is?
Especially with modern abstract painting—it’s everywhere in high-end homes, hotels, and corporate spaces. A lot of it seems designed to be aesthetically pleasing but not too thought-provoking, so it blends into the environment rather than demanding attention. It feels like abstraction has been commercialized into a luxury good rather than a form of deep expression, at least in many cases.
Of course, that doesn’t mean all abstract art today is purely decorative. There are still artists pushing boundaries and using abstraction in meaningful ways. But a lot of what sells seems to be more about fitting a vibe than saying something.
By ChatGPT