A man has sold an elaborate tattoo of the Virgin Mary, which is still on his back, to an art collector who plans to ‘exhibit’ him three times a year.

The extraordinary transaction – which Zurich gallery owner Jutta Nexdorf claims is the first of its kind, earned the vendor, Tim Steiner, 150,000 euros ($218,000).

The tattoo was designed by Belgian artist Wim Dalvoye and took 35 hours to create. In return Steiner is required to exhibit the work three times a year in public and private shows.

Lucian Freud is universally acclaimed as Britain’s most famous and expensive living artist.

A Freud painting when it goes on the market is now guaranteed a seven figure reserve price and in May, the portrait “Benefits Supervisor Sleeping” sold to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for $33 million, setting a new world record for a living artist !

However, the 85-year-old artist was recently informed that one of his subjects, Bernard Breslauer, a famous New York antiques book dealer – who once bought a Gutenberg Bible – had wrecked his portrait.

DNA 11 is a company that will transform a swab of your DNA into a contemporary-looking canvas with an artistic image of your DNA on it.

“Web consultant Adrian Salamunovic came across a DNA imaging brochure that his friend, molecular geneticist Nazim Ahmed, had brought with him. Adrian felt the DNA images were a piece of art, and asked Nazim to image his own genetic code.

Several weeks later, Adrian’s DNA art was ready and he promptly hung it on his wall; surprisingly, all of his friends wanted one too. Seeing a good business opportunity, the two friends partnered together with only $2,000 and started DNA 11 in Nazim’s small 600 square foot apartment.

Christie’s sold last week Jeff Koon’s Ballon Flower (Magenta) for $25,752,051, a world record price for the artist at auction.

This work is one of five unique versions: Magenta, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Red and was executed between 1995 and 1999.

Balloon Flower (Magenta) 1995-2000 is from a top Dallas art collector who paid less than £600,000 for it seven years ago. It was the first time a work of this scale and quality by Koons were publicly offered in London.

“Michelangelo: La Dotta Mano” (“The Wise Hand”), is an over-the-top volume of photographs of this Renaissance master’s sculptures and. It is probably “the most beautiful book in the world” and also one of the most expensive, with its retail price of 100,000 euros, (around $155,000).

Using the high standards of the privately published books in the 19th as a starting point, the book’s publisher, Gruppo FMR, sought expert artisans from various fields to create something described as “a work of art in itself.”

Aurelio Amendola’s black-and-white photographs were printed on paper made exclusively for the project. There are detachable reproductions of Michelangelo drawings on handmade folios created according to centuries-old traditions.

And then there’s the cover: a scale reproduction in marble of the “Madonna della Scala”, a bas-relief of the Virgin and Child sculptured by Michelangelo when he was still in his teens.
Six marble sculptors are working on the first 33 limited edition copies. The marble cover was the trickiest aspect of production. “It was difficult to find the right depth, we broke a lot of slabs along the way” said Mr Tamar, the project’s production manager.

Delivered in a sleek black box, the book’s cover is a scale reproduction in marble of the “Madonna della Scala” (“Madonna of the Steps”). It also comes with it’s own stand and a 500-year guarantee.

This isn’t the most expensive book ever made. There are books incorporating precious metals or gemstones that increase the price, like “Dancing With the Bear,” which comes in a diamond-encrusted “special oligarch” edition that ranges in price from $1 million to $6 million.

Luxury publishing in general seems to be on the upswing. “From my experience, it’s growing. There are a certain amount of people who are testing how far the market can be pushed,” said Ovais Naqvi, chief executive of Gloria, a new luxury publisher.

Because production of the Michelangelo book is so labor-intensive, aspiring buyers can expect a six-month wait, the same as for a Ferrari, said FMR’s commercial director.

RMS Titanic Scale Model is one of its kind as till date a authentic scale model of the Titanic had never been built.
However Fine Art Models, the world’s premier scale model makers managed to seek the permission to build a definitive 1:48 scale model of the Titanic as a limited edition ($2,500,000). At 18 feet, she looks stunning sporting an all brass look.

Weighing 1,500 pounds, the hull is of fiberglass while the deck and its furniture is made from real wood. The telegraph in the Bridge is internally lit and the lighting is so complex that it required the installation of more than 8 miles of fiber optic cable.

Encased in a wooden case with glass on both sides for a crystal clear view, this Titanic model won’t fail to evoke all the memories of this unsinkable luxurious liner.

With Harland & Wolff support, in seven years time, this1:48 scale builder’s model was finally completed in 2002. Since then this miniature yet genuinely replica version of Titanic has toured the United States and abroad via museums and private events.