"L'Homme Au Doigt" (Pointing Man, 1947) by Alberto Giacometti - The Highest Price Paid For A Sculpture In Auction History

[DonRocks]

There was a lot of news recently about "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," the triptych by Francis Bacon (1909-1992) that recently fetched a world record $142.4 million at auction.

(Lucian Freud)

Nobody knew who the mystery buyer was, however, until recently. It turns out the buyer was none other than Qatar which, in terms of money spent on art, has recently become an electric Qatar - they're hosting the World Cup in 2022, and they're not messing around, spending $1 billion a year on art.

Edit: It turns out the New York Post was incorrect in reporting that Qatar purchased the painting:

"Did Sheika Al-Mayassa Buy The Bacon? Update: No" by Rozalia Jovanovich on blogs.artinfo.com

"Francis Bacon Triptych To Go On View In Oregon; Buyer Remains Unknown" by David Ng on lattimes.com

"The Reason Why Francis Bacon's "˜Lucian Freud' Is Worth $142 Million" by Agustino Fontevecchia on forbes.com

It wasn't just Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Algers (Version "O")" that brought a world record price this past weekend; Alberto Giacometti's sculpture, "L'Homme Au Doigt" (Pointing Man), (1947) set a record for sculpture, bringing in $141.3 million after commission.

"Giacometti Sculpture Breaks World Record" on swissinfo.ch

"Why Alberto Giacometti's Art Is So Successful" on swissinfo.ch

I'm sure you're quite right about that. But the intense interest in artwork from the Renaissance to the 19th Century surely outstrips any interest in antiquities. In the few collectible markets that I know anything about, age almost never counts for much, but rarity often does. Vermeer paintings are older than Picassos, obviously, but they're also orders of magnitude rarer, and they're also the object of intense interest. Surely a previously unknown Vermeer, fully authenticated, would fetch more than this Picasso, wouldn't it?

To address Herschel's question in context of the Giacometti, I suspect nothing at all by Rodin would go for $150 million, for whatever reason - the high-dollar investors seem to be going for established, mid-20th century, masterpieces. They're new enough to be "hot," but old enough to be "established," I suppose. Once the East Building of the NGA reopens, you can simply walk in and see Giacometti's for free, or you can see them in the Hirshhorn now (there might even be one in the sculpture garden outside - which might make it the *most expensive building in Washington, DC*). Personally, I say ... SELL - get $100 million for one of these babies, and you've got 15 years worth of operating budget in cash.

[The Hersch]

Rodin no, you're almost certainly right, but Michelangelo?