THE ART MARKET

In 2005, three paintings by Congo went up for auction. The works sold for $25,620—outselling works by Renoir and Warhol at the same event. Indeed, the lot outsold Morris’ own artwork, the highest price realized at auction being $17,656.³⁸

I wonder how Morris feels about Congo’s artistic success. I think he must be proud, because in every instance where art is touched upon in Morris’ writings, Congo is mentioned or alluded to. But never Morris’ own artwork.  

It was in a news brief for this auction that I learned what became of Congo. In 1964, two years after The Biology of Art was published, Congo succumbed to tuberculosis.³⁹

³⁸  “Desmond Morris: Auction prices, signatures and monograms.” FindArtInfo. FindArtInfo, n.d. Web. 23 March 2016.

³⁹ Vries, Lloyd. “Dead Chimp’s Art Sells Big.” CBSNews. CBS Interactive Inc., 20 June 2008. Web. 23 March 2016.