$23,000,000. Smackeroos for Sargent Painting

According to the NY Times:

"Art prices are setting records again. In early November "No. 6 (Yellow, White, Blue Over Yellow on Gray)" by Mark Rothko was auctioned at Sotheby's for a record $17.4 million, almost 50 percent above the top end of Sotheby's estimate. "The Ninth Hour," a room with a lifesize wax pope felled by a meteorite, by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, fetched $3 million at auction at Phillips, de Pury & Company, also exceeding its top estimate by half."
By EDUARDO PORTER, December 1, 2004


A record price for a John Singer Sargent has been set at Sotheby's at the recent sale.


PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF RITA AND DANIEL FRAAD
JOHN SINGER SARGENT
1856-1925
GROUP WITH PARASOLS (A SIESTA)
ESTIMATE 9,000,000—12,000,000 USD

Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 23,528,000 USD

There it is, yet another art work sold at more than twice the estimate and a record for the artist. $23,000,000. smackeroos. Art is hot right now, right here.