''My Bed'' is a work by the English artist

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...

. First created in 1998, it was exhibited at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

in 1999 as one of the shortlisted works for the

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

. It consisted of her bed with bedroom objects in a dishevelled state, and gained much media attention. Although it did not win the prize, its notoriety has persisted. It was sold at auction by

Christie’s Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis ...

in July 2014 for £2,546,500.

Inspiration

The idea for ''My Bed'' was inspired by a sexual yet depressive phase in the artist's life when she had remained in bed for four days without eating or drinking anything but alcohol. When she looked at the vile, repulsive mess that had accumulated in her room, she suddenly realised what she had created. Emin ardently defended ''My Bed'' against critics who treated it as a farce and claimed that anyone could exhibit an unmade bed. To these claims the artist retorted, " Well, they didn't, did they? No one had ever done that before."

Reactions

The artwork generated considerable media furore,Preece, R. J. (12 September 2021)
Tracey Emin. My bed, (1998) in varied publications, exhibitions
''artdesigncafe''. Retrieved 29 October 2021. particularly over the fact that the bedsheets were stained with bodily secretions and the floor had items from the artist's room, such as condoms, underwear with menstrual blood stains, other detritus, and functional, everyday objects, including a pair of slippers. The bed was presented in the state that Emin claimed it had been after languishing in it for several days; at the time she was suffering suicidal depression brought on by relationship difficulties. Two performance artists,

Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi Cai Yuan and Jian Jun Xi are two Chinese-born artists, based in Britain, who work together under the name Mad For Real. They have enacted (unofficial) events at the Venice Biennale and the Turner Prize, where, in 1999, they jumped onto Tracey Emin ...

, jumped on the bed with bare torsos to improve the work, which they thought had not gone far enough. They called their performance ''Two Naked Men Jump into Tracey's Bed''. The men also had a pillow fight on the bed for around fifteen minutes, to applause from the crowd, before being removed by security guards. The artists were detained but no further action was taken. Prior to its Tate Gallery showing, the work had appeared elsewhere, including Japan, where there were variant surroundings, including at one stage a hangman's noose hanging over the bed. This was not present when it was displayed at the Tate. Craig Brown wrote a satirical piece about ''My Bed'' for ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent critici ...

'' entitled ''My Turd''. Emin's former boyfriend, former

Stuckist Stuckism () is an international art movement founded in 1999 by Billy Childish and Charles Thomson to promote figurative painting as opposed to conceptual art.Billy Childish Billy Childish (born Steven John Hamper, 1 December 1959) is an English painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, Childish has been prolific in creating music, writing and visual art. He has le ...

, stated that he also had an old bed of hers in the shed which he would make available for £20,000.

Predecessors

Art world predecessors to Emin's personal disclosure work include artists

Carolee Schneemann Carolee Schneemann (October 12, 1939 – March 6, 2019) was an American visual experimental artist, known for her multi-media works on the body, narrative, sexuality and gender. She received a B.A. in poetry and philosophy from Bard College and ...

, Sue Williams,

Karen Finley Karen Finley (born 1956) is an American performance artist, musician and poet. Her performance art, recordings, and books are used as forms of activism. Her work frequently uses nudity and profanity. Finley incorporates depictions of sexuality, ...

, Jo Spence, and David Wojnarowicz.

Sale history and value

''My Bed'' was bought by

Charles Saatchi Charles Saatchi (; ar, تشارلز ساعتجي; born 9 June 1943) is an Iraqi-British businessman and the co-founder, with his brother Maurice, of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest ...

for £150,000 and displayed as part of the first exhibition when the

Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the D ...

opened its new premises at County Hall, London (which it has now vacated). Saatchi also installed the bed in a dedicated room in his own home. When it was announced, in May 2014, that the work was to be auctioned,

David Maupin David Maupin is an American art dealer. With Rachel Lehmann, he opened the Lehmann Maupin gallery in SoHo, Manhattan, in October 1996. Before opening Lehmann Maupin, Maupin was the director of Metro Pictures. Early life and education Born in Cali ...

, Emin's dealer in New York, described the £800,000 – £1.2 million estimate as too low. When auctioned by

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...

in July 2014, the piece was sold for a little over £2.5 million.Tracey Emin's bed sells for over £2.5 million
''Christie's'', 1 July 2014.

Notes and references

External links