What could a sea sponge, a Sith Lord, a supermodel, an evening gown, and… a woman’s hand possibly have in common?

 

 Collectors from all over the world are willing to pay huge sums of money for the creative masterpieces in the arts. Modern artists, designers, sculptors often apply use gold in their work — a precious material valued for its attractive appearance and plasticity.

We are going to tell about the most unusual items created from the gold metal by the contemporary artists.

 

1. The golden sponge

 Work of the French artist Yves Klein Relief éponge (RE 47 II) (“Sponge Relief”) is a composition of sponges and pebbles covered with gold which are fixed onto the wooden plate. This embossed golden “picture” turned out to be the most expensive lot sold at the Christie’s auction in 2010 in the section “post-war and modern art”.

The price of the panel made of the golden sponges is 12,872,000 dollars corrected for inflation as of 2025.

In the photo: Christie’s auction employee is examining the Relief éponge (RE 47 II).

 

2. A gold mask of the movie hero

In 2017, Japanese jewelry company Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry presented the mask of the character Darth Vader from the “Star Wars” made of 24-carat gold. Its weight is 15 kilograms. The release of the precious helmet coincided with the 40th anniversary of the first film from the “star” saga.

The price of the gold mask of Darth Vader is about 1,807,000 dollars adjusted for inflation.

In the photo: gold helmet of Darth Vader was put up for sale in the main shop of the company-manufacturer in the Ginza area of the Tokyo city.

 

3. Golden Kate

Sculpture of the famous super model Kate Moss named “Siren” is executed in the 18-karat gold. For the first time it was exhibited in the British Museum in 2008.

The author of the “precious Kate” is the British artist Marc Quinn. Inspired by the Indian deity Shiva, he created an unusual statue with the legs crossed behind her head.

The weight of the “Siren” is 50 kg, height is 0.88 m.

878 thousand dollars (in modern equivalent) worth of gold were used during the manufacturing process of the statue.

In the photo: the miniaturized copy of the statue — the 10-kilogram “Microcosmos (Siren)” — was sold at the Sotheby’s auction to the Asian collector and a great admirer of Kate Moss. The man paid about 1.1 million dollars (adjusted for inflation) for the gold statue.

 

4. Gold dress

One more masterpiece by Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry — a precious dress made of gold was presented by the famous Japanese jewelry brand at the Tokyo FashionWeek in 2008.

The weight of the luxurious evening gown is more than 10 kilograms.

The price of the gold dress is over  400,000 dollars in present-day terms.

In the photo: 325 gold Austrian Wiener Philharmoniker coins were used to create the precious dress by Ginza Tanaka.  

 

5. A gold hand

The Dutch sculptor Rogier Ruys presented to the public his new work once — a gold hand of the flamenco dancer (Flamenco Gold Hand).

A realistic hand is 75 cm in height, made of a synthetic material and gilded with 24-carat gold.

The price of the precious item put up for sale is just shy of 5,000 dollars.

In the photo: “Life is like a dance, and every finger has it’s own story... The world we create lies in our hands”, says the author of the sculpture Rogier Ruys. 

 

Gold is a material that can not only reveal an artist’s vision in a unique way, but also elevate an ordinary everyday object to the level of true art. Read how a humble means of transportation rose to the status of an art piece in our article “3 most expensive gold bicycles: riding the twinned suns”.

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