It is not every day that a contemporary French artist sets a world auction record. 

This is however what happened at Christie’s last week when the painting L’Année Dernière à Capri from Martial Raysse was sold for more than four million pounds. 

Painted in 1962, L’Année Dernière à Capri or Last Year in Capri is representative of the female portraits Raysse was painting in the 60’s. Acidulated colors, women in bathing suits inspired from the fashion magazines, and the addition of the neon, contribute to a unique portraying of a consumerist society. 

Martial Raysse was born in the south of France in 1936. He wanted to become a writer but instead turned to painting as he was searching for a language beyond words.  He reached fame in the mid 60’s and continued to explore his artistic voice through diverse visual arts forms and even through the cinema.  His reputation, as one of the essential figures of the Pop Art, is international. His work can be viewed in France at the George Pompidou Center as well as in many museums of modern art. 

L’Année Dernière à Capri has been bought by an American collector and the profits will benefit a charity.

References: 

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5408905
http://www.centrepompidou.fr/education/ressources/ENS-newrea-EN/ENS-newrea-EN.htm