Eight Elvises by Andy Warhol, 1963. In 2008, it was sold for $100 million to a private collector, making it the 16th most expensive painting ever sold, adjusting for inflation. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_paintings
Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art.
Claude Debussy
Possibly my favorite painting, The Starry Night by the incomparable Vincent van Gogh, circa 1889. Van Gogh would paint the masterpiece one year after cutting off his own ear. Currently at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, USA, it is not for sale. Estimates for the extremely iconic painting range from $100 million to priceless.
The Card Players by Paul Cézanne, circa 1894 – 1895. In 2011, one of the five versions of the painting was sold to the royal family of Qatar for between $250 million and $320 million. This makes it the most expensive work of art ever sold.
Sculpture inspired by the coat of arms of Spain. Photo by Ignacio Gavira at the city hall in Seville, Spain. The inscribed motto, although in the negative form (Non Plus Ultra), was said to have been on the ancient Pillars of Hercules warning ships to travel no further. After landing in the New World in 1492, Spain would refashion this phrase to the affirmative and seize it as their national motto. Less than a century later, Spain would become known as the first “empire on which the sun never sets”. A leading theory is that this coat of arms was actually the precursor to the version of the American dollar sign that uses two vertical bars. The motto and the pillars can be found on the modern Spanish flag.
Plus Ultra
National Motto of Spain · Latin for “Further Beyond”
Official United States document recognizing a 1767 land grant from the King of Spain to my fifth great-grandfather Juan José Solís. The grant was 6,000 acres in Starr County, Texas and it was known simply as Porción 107 (Portion 107).
The Challenger lifting off on the morning of January 28, 1986. Soon after takeoff the Space Shuttle Challenger experienced a catastrophic failure, eventually killing everyone on board. Later that day President Reagan delivered an address to the nation. Many believe this was one of the most profound speeches of the 20th Century. http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/speeches/reagan_challenger.html
We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.
President Ronald Reagan, January 28, 1986 National Address
The crew of the Challenger, January 8, 1986. Photo12/UIG/Getty Images.
