Giacometti Sculpture Sets New Record As Most Expensive Art

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 4th 2010 at 1:01AM

Wow, when I wrote about the upcoming auction of the Giacometti sculpture, L'Homme Qui Marche I, last month I had no idea that someone would go crazy for the bronze cast sculpture. But the results are crazy indeed. This sculpture, which was once part of the corporate collection of Germany's Dresdner Bank and acquired by Commerzbank when it took over Dresdner Bank last year, sold for an incredible £65,001,250 ($104,327,006) at the Sotheby's London Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale . It was only estimated at £12-18 million but it managed to set a world record as the most expensive piece of art ever to sell at auction breaking a record set way back in 2004 by Picasso's Garçon à la Pipe, 1905, which sold for $104.1 million.

The sale is good news for Commerzbank and selected German museums which will also benefit from the sale. The sculpture was executed in 1960 and cast in bronze in a numbered edition of 6 plus 4 artist's proofs. This one was cast in 1961 and is inscribed Alberto Giacometti and numbered 2/6 and with the foundry mark Susse Fondeur Paris. It seem Giacometti is in vogue lately. Last year his "L'Homme Qui Chavire" made the list of top pieces sold in 2009 in the ninth position with a price of $19.4 million.

Art Info reports that there was heated bidding both by phone and in person. While some thought the Giacometti might beat estimates no one imagined it would go for quite so much money. No information on the winning bidder has been revealed.

Tags: art auction, ArtAuction, giacometti, most expensive art, most expensive sculpture, MostExpensiveArt, MostExpensiveSculpture, sothebys

Filed under: Auctions, Art

Subscribe to these comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Philip Feb 5th 2010 3:21PM

Lol, probably a fake.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/02/news/a-giacometti-s-modesty-fosters-a-legacy-of-fakery.html?pagewanted=all

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/artsales/6122759/Art-market-news-Australias-biggest-test-of-the-year.html

A thousand fake copies of bronzes by Alberto Giacometti have been uncovered by German police in a secret storage space near Mainz. A 59-year-old man, who allegedly offered the fakes for prices in the millions of euros, was taken into custody for questioning. A 61-year-old art dealer and his wife were questioned in relation to the find.