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Stanley Donwood's Kid A paintings sell for £625,000 at Christie's

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Photo: Christie's · press photo, Christie'sAll six of Stanley Donwood's Kid A paintings sold when Christie's online sale closed today, for £625,000 between them. Each had been estimated at £10,000 to £15,000. Christie's prices include the buyer's premium.
The canvases date from 1999 to 2001 and are close relations of the Kid A sleeve. They are big acrylics, most about 167 cm square, some worked over with charcoal, collage, spray paint or oil stick.
Before bidding closed they hung at Christie's in London from 9 to 15 October in How to Disappear Completely: Stanley Donwood x Thom Yorke, with drawings, lyrics and digital art that Donwood and Thom Yorke chose. The sale was timed for the album's 21st anniversary, ahead of the Kid A Mnesia reissue on 5 November.
Donwood's auction record before the sale, the September press reported, was £16,250, paid for Kabul at Phillips in London in 2009. All six beat it. Residential Nemesis went for £137,500, more than eight times as much, after the hammer came down at £110,000. In the whole of First Open, the post-war and contemporary sale the paintings were part of, only two drawings by Yves Saint Laurent did as well.
The six lots
| No. | Painting | Year | Sold for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Trade Center | 1999 | £118,750 |
| 22 | Get Out Before Saturday | 2000 | £125,000 |
| 23 | Minos Wall I | 2000 | £50,000 |
| 24 | Hotels and a Swimming Pool | 1999 | £125,000 |
| 25 | Residential Nemesis | 1999 | £137,500 |
| 26 | Hole | 2001 | £68,750 |
from the record
Idioteque · The promo film from 2000, the band playing it live in a white studio. A fan's copy, taken from the promo DVD.· DRK cowatch on youtube →