Sculpture - Giacometti

Sculpture by Swiss artist smashes auction record

Article published on the 2010-02-04 Latest update 2010-02-04 15:12 TU

World record sale for Sotheby's London
(Photo: Clauss Hoppe)

A life-size bronze sculpture by Giacometti has been sold for a record 104.3 million dollars at an auction at Sotheby's in London. L'homme qui marche was expected to fetch up to 29 million dollars at Wednesday's sale, but an anonymous telephone buyer bid almost four times that amount.

The previous record for a work at auction belonged to Pablo Picasso's painting Garcon a la Pipe which sold in New York for 104.2 million dollars in 2004.

The high price for Giacometti's 1961 metal figure was the result of a dramatic bidding battle which opened at 19 million dollars. After eight minutes of furious bidding, between at least 10 prospective buyers, the statue went to the anonymous telephone bidder.

L'homme qui marche 1
(Photo: Reuters)

Sotheby's said that the Giacometti sale was just one in a string of sales of other sought after art works which brought in a total of 235 million dollars, The auction house claims this is the highest value sale ever staged in London.

The auction is the latest example of a revival in the art auction market which fell sharply as the global economic crisis hit wealthy collectors,

Auction sales still lag behind private sales. One of the most expensive private sales ever is believed to be Austrian artist Gustave Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer 1 which reportedly sold for 135 million dollars in 2006.