2007 in Review: Auction Lots We'll Remember

Undervalued
Ed Ruscha, "Burning Gas Station" (1965–66)
Christie’s Post-War/Contemporary Art Sale, New York, November 13, 2007
$6,985,000
Est. $4–6 million

Though Larry Gagosian had to reach deep into a client’s pockets to nab this flaming Pop image from the mid-1960s, the work’s punchy combination of rarity and iconic recognition made it a very good buy.

Based on the bones of a 1962 black-and-white photograph, Ruscha used his incendiary artist license to engulf a classic Standard gas station in a fictional blaze that feels particularly relevant today, when so many environmental and geopolitical issues are swirling around us.

You can’t touch a major ’60s Pop painting by Lichtenstein or Warhol at this price; plus, given its impressive exhibition history, the picture qualifies as another kind of fire sale.