When I first heard about that sculpture and how much it has fetched on auction at Sotheby’s London last Wednesday I thought it to be a joke at first. £65m… that is a 65 with six(!) zeros… Well, that should help the bank to get back on track and kiss the economic crisis goodbye.
Here are some excerpts from recent reports:
The stupendous price of £65m fetched by Giacometti’s “L’Homme qui marche 1” (1961) at Sotheby’s on Wednesday was seen by dealers leaving the sale as signalling a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the art market. “The money was there, but nothing was available to buy, so the moment good things came back for sale they were going to perform incredibly well,” said Richard Nagy, who described the whole sale as evidence of “pent-up spending”. Financial Times
So big spenders are cutting back? Clearly not all of them. A sculpture of a grimly determined walking man by Alberto Giacometti tonight broke records by becoming the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction when it was bought for £65m. The price, achieved at Sotheby’s in London, was five times more than its estimate of £12m-18m, and beat the record set by Picasso’s Garçon à la Pipe in 2004. That sold in New York for $104,168,000. The Guardian
A life-sized bronze sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, the Swiss artist, has became the most expensive piece of art to ever sell at auction after it sold for more than £65million. The Telegraph
Whatever happens to the broader economy, there will always be super-wealthy individuals who look at the art world either as a passionate collector or a shrewd investor or both. There are institutions, some with state backing, in the market for rare works to fill museums and galleries that have sprouted up, particularly in the Middle East. And while Russian buying may have slowed, China and India have made up for it. Reuters
L’Homme qui marche 1, 1961
