Summary

TAPE: EF01/0406 IN_TIME: 03:00:47 - 07:25:33 DURATION: 3:15 SOURCES: APTN RESTRICTIONS: DATELINE: New York - May 11/15 SHOTLIST: May 11th, 2001 1. Wide shot exterior Sotheby's Auction House, zoom in to sign 2. Wide shot Jeff Koons' "Michael Jackson and Bubbles" 3. Close-up sculpture 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Laura Paulson, New York Director of Contemporary Art, Sotheby's "Michael Jackson is really a subject matter that is popular culture, and by that aspect of it, it's kitschy, it's glossy, it's glittery, and it's outside the realm of, certainly pushes the levels of what we would call standard good taste. But I do believe it does go beyond what is just purely about kitsch and shock value." 5. Medium shot woman looking at Mark Rothko's "Black and Red on Red," pan room 6. Wide shot, Jackson Pollock's "Black and White, Number 6," (est. 6-8 million) 7. Close-up same 8. Medium shot women viewing Warhol paintings 9. Close-up Andy Warhol's "Group of Five Campbell's Soup Cans," (est. 2.5-3.5 million) 10. Close-up of Gerhard Richter's "Drei Kerzen" May 15th, 2001 11. Wide shot of auction of Koons' "Michael Jackson and Bubbles" 12. Close up of auctioneer, pan to Sotheby's staff 13. Wide shot of auction of Warhol's "Group of Five Campbell's Soup Cans" 14. Close up of auctioneer 15. Wide shot of auction of Jackson Pollock's "Black and White/Number 6" 16. Close up of auctioneer 17. Close up of Richter's "Drei Kerzen" 18. Wide shot of auctioneer 19. Close up of bidding board 20. Medium shot of auctioneer STORYLINE: Sotheby's auction house in New York has sold a number of valuable pieces of contemporary art at its Spring art sale. Among the works auctioned on Tuesday were "Michael Jackson and Bubbles," a porcelain sculpture by the artist Jeff Koons. The piece sold for 5 (m) million 615-thousand-750 U-S dollars. It was the highest price ever paid for a work by Koons at auction -- his previous record was 1.8 (m) million U-S dollars. The sculpture is considered by many to be Koons' most significant work and a triumph both technically and conceptually. Koons has said he identifies personally with Michael Jackson. In 1988 the artist said: "If I could be one other living person, it would probably be Michael Jackson." Like Jackson, Koons rose to worldwide prominence in the "excessive, decadent" 1980's, taking the art world by surprise with his sculptures that elevated the commonplace to the level of the devotional. Since the image of pop idol Michael Jackson and his pet monkey burst onto the art scene in 1988, the work has caused sensational interest wherever it's exhibited, drawing crowds and the attention of art critics worldwide. Koons' sculpture was produced in an edition of three - the other two are held in a foundation in Athens and at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Other highlights from the contemporary art sale included a Jackson Pollock painting from 1951 called "Black and White/Number 6" and Andy Warhol's instantly recognizable "Soup Cans." They sold for 7 (m) million 980-thousand-750 and 3 (m) million 745-thousand-750 U-S dollars respectively. Gerhard Richter's painting "Drei Kerzen" or "Three Candles" sold for 5 (m) million 395-thousand-750.