Popeye nets an eye-popping $28 million

Hotel magnate Steve Wynn bought Jeff Koons’ stainless steel sculpture ‘Popeye’ for $28 million at Sotheby’s in New York this month. Originally estimated to sell for $25 million, Wynn upped the price for the 6.5-foot-tall statue of the cartoon character.

The auction house’s description of the statue reads: “We can’t help but relate to the artist’s monumental interpretation of Popeye, the cartoon sailor and icon of 20th-century popular culture.

Over life-size, rendered in stainless steel and finished in kaleidoscopic, mirror-polished glazes, the seven-foot-high figure embodies the artist’s signature brand of Pop art in the spirit of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

Triumphantly squeezing open a can of spinach, Popeye is simultaneously Everyman and Superman.” Alex Rotter, Sotheby’s New York co-head of contemporary art, said that Koons’ Popeye statue would soon be on display at one of Wynn’s Las Vegas hotels.

Wynn made his winning bid via the phone, while celebrities like Marc Jacobs, Mary-Kate Olsen and Daniel Loeb watched the sale.