Tracey Emin’s Bed Brings $4.4 Million at Christie’s

Tracey Emin‘s My Bed (1998) sold for £2.2 million ($3.8 million)—or, with buyer’s premium, £2,546,500 ($4.4 million)—at Christie’s London’s contemporary art scale on the evening of July 1, setting a new record for the YBA artist. Emin, who was in the auction room for the sale, earned a spot on the shortlist for the 1999 Turner Prize with the very earnest sculpture.

The piece had been consigned by collector Charles Saatchi, who had bought it in 2000 for just £150,000 (roughly $257,000). Proceeds from its sale will go to the Saatchi Gallery Foundation.

The risque work, which includes empty liquor bottles, condoms, and cigarette butts, had a presale estimate of £800,000–1.2 million. The work vastly outperformed Emin’s previous auction record, of £481,875 (roughly $779,000), which was set in October 2013 for another bed sculpture, 2002’s To Meet My Past.

Stay tuned for a full auction report on Christie’s London’s July 1 sale from artnet News.