A GERMAN painting inspired by Brendan Behan reading his poetry drunk on stage with his trouser flies open sold at a Sotheby’s art auction in London last night for £2.4 million (€2.67 million).
The oil-on-canvas, titled Die Grosse Nacht im Eimer (the Big Night Down the Drain), was painted in the early 1960s by artist Georg Baselitz (73) – one of Germany's best-known and most-admired artists. The image caused outrage in Germany when it was first exhibited.
Including auction fees and VAT, Sotheby’s said the unnamed buyer paid £2,393,250 which was within its estimate of £2 to £3 million.
Sotheby’s said: “This historic painting is the most significant work by the artist remaining in private hands and readily justifies the claim to be among the most important German artworks of the post-war period”.
A catalogue note explained that the artist, then aged 24 and living in West Berlin, had read a newspaper report about Brendan Behan “giving a reading of his poetry drunk on stage with his trouser flies open, exposing his manhood to full view” which became his inspiration for the work. Baselitz painted three versions of the image. The other two are in museums.
Last night's auction was one in a series of modern and contemporary art auctions under way in London this week. On Tuesday at Christie's a painting by Irish-born artist Francis Bacon, Study For A Portrait, 1953", sold for £18 million.
