Three paintings created in 1957 by a chimp named Congo were auctioned in London. While works by Renoir and Andy Warhol didn't sell, the chimp's art did.
LONDON - Monkey business proved to be lucrative Monday when paintings by Congo the chimpanzee sold at auction for more than $25,000.
The sale price surpassed predictions that priced the paintings between $1,000-$1,500.
“We had no idea what these things were worth,” said Howard Rutkowski, director of modern and contemporary art at Bonhams. “We just put them in for our own amusement.”
Amusement? Or evil plot?
His artwork provoked reactions ranging from scorn to skepticism among critics of the time, but Pablo Picasso is reported to have hung a Congo painting on his studio wall after receiving it as a gift.
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