Hasta La Ideas

Maybe it was the forgetful spray, the unseasonably warm weather, or the relative affordability of a $4,000 Polaroid photo (by Philip-Lorca diCorcia), but the Armory Show attracted a new high of 60,000 visitors during its five-day run, up from 56,000 in 2009. And there were sales aplenty. White Cube found a major collector to part with $4.6 million for Damien Hirst‘s 2007 painting “Skull with Glass of Water,” while Copenhagen’s Faurschou sold an Edvard Munch landscape to a private collector for $6 million. Lisson Gallery quickly found a home for Anish Kapoor‘s crowd-pleasing “Void” (1991), which was sold to U.S. collectors for $758,000, while several Joan Mitchell works changed hands for high six figures. Our big question: Did Friedman Benda find a buyer for its massive Ai Weiwei orb? Indeed. We’re not sure of the sale price, but the gallery reports that the work is now rolling its way into “a great collection.”

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