INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

‘Kneeling Hitler’ Sculpture Sells For $17.2 Million At Auction

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 05:21 PST, May 9, 2016

A controversial sculpture of a kneeling Adolf Hitler has sold for $17.2 million at auction, CNBC is reporting.

Officially entitled “Him,” the wax sculpture by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan appears to show a small child kneeling in prayer when viewed from behind. When viewed from the front, the sculpture, which features real human hair, is quite obviously Adolf Hitler.

The sculpture was sold as part of Christie’s themed artwork sale entitled “Bound to Fail,” a sale that showcases work that, according to Loic Gouzer, Deputy Chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art, “pushes the envelope.”

“With Bound to Fail, we sought to push the envelope with an auction that emphasized artists and works that challenge the traditional notions of commercial success.”

Other works in the “Bound to Fail” auction, according to NBC New York, included “One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank,” a 1985 sculpture by Jeff Koons, which consists of a ball suspended in a tank of water.

It sold for $15.3 million.

Ever since its creation in 2001, the kneeling Hitler sculpture has been dogged by controversy. In 2010, when it was exhibited in Milan, Italy, the mayor of Milan forbade posters depicting the sculpture from hanging in the city or from being reproduced. In 2012, the statue was depicted in Warsaw, Poland, at the site of a former ghetto where some 300,000 Jews died of starvation, disease, or were sent to their deaths at concentration camps.

Even sculptor Cattelan himself has wrestled with the sculpture – part of a set of three sculptures of Hitler in varying poses.

“I wanted to destroy it myself. I changed my mind a thousand times, every day. Hitler is pure fear.”

It’s that visceral reaction of fear that makes “Him” a compelling work of art for viewers to consider, according to Gouzer.

“The depth of interest for this work speaks to its international notoriety, and its ability to breach the boundaries of fine art and popular culture, forcing the viewer to reconsider challenging questions about action and absolution.”

This is not the first time a controversial work of art has fetched a staggering price at auction.

In 2012, Tracey Emin’s controversial “My Bed,” a sculpture featuring an unmade bed and a floor littered with cigarette butts, vodka bottles, and discarded condoms, sold for £2.2 million (about $3.1 million).

Similarly, in July 2015, Chris Ofili’s controversial painting “The Holy Virgin of Mary,” featuring a black Virgin Mary covered in elephant dung, sold for $4.6 million.

So controversial was “The Virgin of Mary” that when the painting was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999, then-NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani called it “sick” and an offense to the Catholic Church. During its exhibition, an offended viewer smeared paint on the piece, although museum workers were able to intervene before any damage was done.

Art blogger Ellie Tordoff writes that art that shocks and offends the viewer is necessary because it forces the viewer to think about his or her own perceptions.

“Art allows us to give form and meaning to emotions and allows us to focus on certain issues of a social or political bearing.”

The kneeling Hitler sculpture was purchased by an anonymous bidder who bid by telephone.

[Photo by Christie’s/Marian Goodman Gallery/copyright Maurizio Cattelan via AP Images]

Share this article: ‘Kneeling Hitler’ Sculpture Sells For $17.2 Million At Auction
art
More from Inquisitr