First Of Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 26th 2011 at 4:01AM

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei generated headlines around the world when he installed 100 million ceramic sunflowers seeds in the Tate Modern in London. The exhibit, which started last October, initially was open for guests to frolic through the seeds. Shortly after it opened health concerns about dust led the museum to restrict access to the exhibit. But if you want to run your hands through the seeds, you will soon be able to buy a 100-kilogram pile of seeds at Sotheby's in London on February 15. The first pile of seeds carries an estimate of £80,000 to £120,000.

Each porcelain sunflower seed was individually hand made and painted by specialists working in small-scale workshops in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen. The Sotheby's listing suggests that the piece can be installed either in a mound as shown above or smoothed out into a carpet-like experience. There will be a total of ten lots sold from this work. The Telegraph does a little math, figuring that if the seeds are valued by weight and the lot sells at the mid estimate, the Tate installation would be worth a total of £150 million.

Tags: ai weiwei, sunflower seeds, tate modern

Filed under: Auctions, Art

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Deborah-Eve Lombard Feb 24th 2011 1:10AM

Amazing concept--1 million hand painted sunflower seeds. Really makes me think and want to pay attention to all the small things I miss each day.
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