Tracey Emin’s provocative ‘My Bed’ sells for more than $4 million

Tracey Emin’s provocative 1998 installation “My Bed,” which depicts underwear stained with menstrual blood, alcohol containers and a used condom, sold in London for 2.5 million pounds (about $4.3 million) on Tuesday as part of a Christie’s auction of contemporary art that brought in a total of $170.5 million.

“My Bed” is one of Emin’s most famous works of art and was sold on Tuesday to benefit the Saatchi Gallery’s foundation, according to the auction house. Christie’s had estimated that the installation would sell for between $1.4 million and $2 million.

Charles Saatchi was the seller of “My Bed,” having purchased the work more than a decade ago for 150,000 pounds (about $255,000), according to BBC News.

When the work was first shown in 1998, it drew a considerable amount of media coverage for its shock value. It also provoked strong reactions from members of the public, some of whom were tempted to alter Emin’s dissolute arrangement of bed sheets and pillows, according to a Times report from 1999.

“My Bed” was among the works shortlisted for Britain’s Turner Prize in 1999.

Among the highest selling items at Tuesday’s auction was a Francis Bacon painting from 1967 titled “Study for Head of Lucian Freud,” which sold for 11.5 million pounds (about $19.6 million), and a painting by artist Peter Doig titled “Gasthof,” which went for 9.9 million pounds (about $16.9 million).

On Monday, a Bacon triptych depicting George Dyer sold for more than 26.7 million pounds (about $45 million) at a Sotheby’s auction in London.

The Christie’s auction on Tuesday also featured a few works by Andy Warhol, including a 1986 self-portrait that sold for about 6.35 million pounds (about $10.8 million), near the low end of estimates.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT