A life-size bronze sculpture of a man, L’homme qui marche I (Walking Man I), by Alberto Giacometti has been sold at auction in London for the world record price of £65,001,250 (U$S 104,327,006).
It took just eight minutes of “fast and furious” bidding for bidders to reach the hammer price after the sculpture opened at £12m at Sotheby’s headquarters in London last night. The winning bid was made over the telephone by an anonymous buyer.
Sotheby’s said it was the most expensive work ever sold at auction.
The 6-foot figure cast in bronze is considered to be one of the most important by the 20th century Swiss artist and it was estimated between £12 million and £18 million.
The catalogue described the new record holder as “a humble image of an ordinary man” but the buyer will be one of only a handful of billionaires interested in art at that price.
The previous record for an art work sold at auction, Boy with a Pipe by Pablo Picasso, was sold for $104,168,000 (£58,520,830) in New York in 2004.
Other works of art have reached more in private sales. Jackson Pollock’s No5, 1948, reached $140m (£73m at the time) in 2006.
The BBC reported Melanie Clore, of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art department, as saying: “We are thrilled to have sold these great works this evening and that they have been recognised for the masterpieces that they are.
“The competition which generated these exceptional results demonstrates the continued quest for quality that compels today’s collectors.”
