Glenn Brown's Bocklin's Tomb has sold at the top of Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, which was held on October 18 in London.
 The piece is inspired by Isle of the Dead, a noted work from Swiss symbolist Arnold Bocklin |
The piece, copied from the painting Floating Cities (1981) by science fiction artist Chris Foss, sold for £2.3m ($3.7m).
Measuring 2.2m by 3.3m, the 1998 oil on canvas piece is painted on a monumental scale, allowing the viewer to almost walk into the fantasy landscape that Brown has created from appropriating Foss' imagery.
One of three unique variations on this composition, the work also draws inspiration from Arnold Bocklin's Isle of the Dead and Ferdinand Keller's Tomb of Bocklin - itself a tribute to Isle of the Dead.
On October 17, Sotheby's sold Glenn Brown's Ornamanetal Despair, a work copied from Foss' Stars Like Dust (1986), for £3.5m ($5.7m).
 Kippenberger (1953-1997) was known for his provocative works and public persona |
Bringing the second highest bids at Christie's was Martin Kippenberger's Down with the Bourgeoisie, which sold for £1.8m ($2.9m). Painted in 1983, the work is one of two large-scale diptychs that are Kippenberger's most apt statements on class systems and his placement within them, according to Christie's.
 The work is laden with some of Doig's most recognisable imagery |
Peter Doig's Red Canoe followed, achieving a 46.8% increase on its £1.2m high estimate at £1.7m ($2.8m). Forming part of his 100 Years Ago series, the 2000 painting revisits Doig's most famous protagonist, the bearded man, with the canoe also an iconic image in his oeuvre.
The world record for Doig's work at auction is held by The Architect's Home in the Ravine, which sold for £7.6m ($11.9m) in February.
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