record art price of 2008

Sadly, I have not had much free time to continue reading 7 Days In the Artworld.  I am still making my way through chapter 1 (which covers the auction house) and would like to include some interesting information which I came across the other day about auction houses.  Did you know that the record auction sale price in 2008 was a triptych by Francis Bacon and it went for a whopping $86 million?  I have only attended one art auction before and it was quite exciting (though no pieces went for 86$ million).  Actually, to be quite honest, it reminded me of horse races that I used to go to with my friends back in college.  The same sort of "what's going to happen next" energy was in the air and, though I was not bidding, I loved trying to spot the people in the crowd that were (though most of the bids came over the phone).  The highest hammer price was around $210,000, not including the buyers premium (thank you very much, Miss Thornton for improving my auction vocabulary!).  Anyways, if you've never been to an auction, I highly recommend it - even if you know very little about the art being sold, it is a one-of-a-kind experience just the same.  Sotheby's and Christie's auctions are free and open to the public and have their auction calendar listed online.  

Goodness, I just realized that now is a good chance to do some more reading - enough blogging for today!