Artist's Beanie Auction

Overview

Artist's Beanie is an artwork created and put up for eBay auction by Ethan Klein, a well-known YouTube vlogger and the host of h3h3 Productions, as a satire of modern art. The artwork, which consists of Klein's signature red beanie hat framed in a glass case, was purportedly sold for more than $1 million (USD) and spawned several copycat offers on the online auction site.

Background

On February 21st, 2016, h3h3 Productions released a video titled "HOW TO MAKE MODERN ART" in which Klein undertakes a tongue-in-cheek investigation of modern art by examining several instances of famous modern and postmodern artworks, as well as their commercial values, that are on exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. During his visit, Klein compiles a list of qualities that he deems to be common attributes of high-value modern artworks and concludes the video by announcing that he has created his own creation of modern art titled "Artist's Beanie"^[1], a red beanie hat placed inside of a frame, which he intends to sell for no less than $1 million; the video garnered over 1.7 million times within the first two weeks.

Notable Developments

Between Klein's announcement of his art auction and its eventual end, the auction page was removed and reinstated by eBay three times on various grounds. The auction ended on March 3rd, with the final bid reaching a purported $10,000,100 (USD).^[2] A Reddit thread created when the auction met $1,000,000 received over 1,000 upvotes.^[3]

Meanwhile, as the story of Klein's "Artist's Beanie" auction began circulating online, several copycat items began popping up on the online auction site, including other beanie hats in frames, as well as screenshots of the auction page, photographs of people reacting to the auction and crude drawings of the piece.

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References