Picasso’s Women of Algiers Sells for Record $179 Million at Auction

John Guillen23 Comments

You read that right. I’m not sure what I would do with nearly $200 million if I had it, but I definitely wouldn’t spend it on a single painting. But that’s just me. I kind of wish I had to face that dilemma. What to do with all that money. Eh. Anyway, this isn’t about the painting.

I’m not all that familiar famous authors, poets, or major literary works I haven’t studied in school, which is why I’m writing this. I’m wondering if any of you are aware of books or manuscripts or something similar that’s been sold at auction for a ridiculous amount of money. I’m not. I don’t even know if those kinds of things are sold at auction. But I’m pretty sure there’s a market for just about everything. How much would I pay for a first draft of a story that has been read by millions of people all over the world over the course of centuries? I wouldn’t pay anything because I wouldn’t be interested in that kind of thing. Or the letters written from an author to his partner in another country. Or the outline of a story. I still wouldn’t be interested. I might like to see them in a museum or something.

So, have you ever heard of a book or manuscript or anything from an author’s estate selling for this kind of money?

On this day in 2014 I published Writing Dialogue = Death.

 

23 thoughts on “Picasso’s Women of Algiers Sells for Record $179 Million at Auction”

  1. Trust me, collectors are a crazy bunch. And yes, manuscripts are sold off to private collectors in auctions and it is legal. Usually. I know that the Archimedes “Palimpsest”, or at least part of it, was sold to a private collector, although I don’t know the amount of money that was given for it. I would suppose a great deal, since it’s an important piece of history.

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      • You more than likely have, you just didn’t know it was called palimpsest. It contains most of the known work written by Archimedes, so, if you know what Archimedes’ work contains, you know, at least partially, or have a vague idea of what is written in the palimpsest 🙂

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  3. I know J.K. Rowling sold a few sketches of Snape and some other characters in a copy of an HP book, but I believe she donated that money to charity. So, good for her! Although I ADORE the arts and artists and such, I would never pay that kind of money for a painting. All that money could be put to so many better uses, don’t you think? I’d have a really hard time justifying an expense like that when there are so many people suffering or people who are in need of that money.

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    • Hm. I know what you’re saying, but I can’t say that someone should or shouldn’t spend money on something. Even this crazy amount. Cause what I think is important and what you think is important and what someone else thinks is important are all independent of one another. But eh, it’s still ridiculous.

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