Kent artist Tracey Emin sells Like a Cloud of Blood painting at auction for a cool £2.3m
Margate resident Tracey Emin has seen a painting of hers sell for £2,322,000 at the world famous Christie's auction house in London.
The renowned and respected artist first found recognition and fame as part of the Young British Artists movement of the late 1980's and early '90s. Since then she has gone on to become one of this country's - and the world's - most esteemed artists.
Emin will put the money towards TKE Studios, her new art school and artists' centre in Margate.
The innovative set-up will offer 12 subsidised professional art studios, a demanding exhibition cycle and two-year residencies for 15-20 students, complete with free workspace, lessons, and lectures.
Emin, who grew up in the area, has already spent £2 million on purchasing and renovating the ancient Edwardian baths, a morgue and a children's daycare in the town.
The amount is just shy of Emin's previous record. Her most renowned work, My Bed, was auctioned off in 2014 for £2,546,500.
The Croydon-born artist had previously said she wouldn't sell the piece. “I loved it and I thought I’d keep it forever,” she'd said. She's since changed her mind after battling bladder cancer. "When I was ill, and I thought I was going to die, I thought: 'what am I here for, what’s it all about?' If one person here makes it as an artist, then I’ve done my job.”
Emin moved back to Margate in 2017 and now works from her own studios near the TKE Studios. She's a huge fan of the area, saying: “I came back to Margate as a different person, and I came back to a different Margate. Everybody here gives me space, there’s nothing pretentious here.”
Main picture courtesy of: Christies
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