Who would have thought that ebay, that most mercantile of institutions, would have such a player’s role in public art these days? From around the nation and around the world, stories of ebay and sculpture abound.
As I blogged about the rocket statue that had gone to outer space being auctioned on ebay the other day, I got to thinking that there must be other connections with commerce and art.
I wasn’t wrong.
Take the Texas Burger joint, Goff’s. For over 10 years, an original 8 foot Soviet Lenin statue has stood guard over the entrance of the restaurant, with a plaque that said, “America Won” beneath it. And apparently it was right. After all, the owner, who bought the behemoth from a Ukranian factory for $500 in 1992 is putting it up for ebay auction for a minimum bid of $3K.
Of course, pieces of Saddam’s statues (there were so many of them that they’re like medieval relics of the true cross) are prime auction fodder these days. One of the offerings, supposedly chunks of the famous statue torn down for CNN, was on ebay’s website, but removed as a hoax. Currently, a very well-documented left leg is making the rounds of Europe’s ebay.
And another giant is doing the ebay shuffle as well. Schomberg’s 10 ft. high, 2 ton “Rocky”, one of the three casts made for the “Rocky III”, was offered for $1 million on December 1, but has since slipped to 750K. The historic piece was also used in the filing of “Rocky V”, Mannequin, and Philadelphia and sparked a controversy in Philly about art vs. movie props. According to news stories, there are no takers.
A particularly observant fan of the Statue of Liberty was cruising ebay recently and snagged someone offering a 4” ear of corn from the flame’s balcony. It was boosted during renovations in the 1980’s and this fan blew the whistle on the seller. Turned out the guy’s dad (now deceased) had taken it as a souvenir while he was working on the giant lady and didn’t apparently think it would matter. The Feds let the seller go, and the lady has her corn back. (I could make a horrible pun about having corns after over a century of standing in New York Harbor, but I won’t.)
So public sculpture once again cuts across time and class… watch for it in an auction near you.
And while we’re at it, if anyone runs across sculpture by Anna Coleman Ladd, Bashka Paeff, Theo Kitson, or Lily Swann Saarinen for sale, PLEASE let me know….
(Photo from www.azubo.de/auktionsdetails.cfm?auctionID=370801 - 48k - Dec 5, 2004)
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