Les femmes d’Alger (Version “O”)
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 114 x 146.4 cm
PICASSO PAINTING FETCHES $179 MILLION AT AUCTION 2015
Pablo Picasso’s 1955 painting Les femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’) fetched $179.4 million in a Christie’s auction in New York – the highest price ever paid for an artwork at auction. The buyer was not disclosed, and the bidding for the auction – which contained a range of modern art masterpieces – was conducted entirely by telephone.
The prices art commands at auctions has been skyrocketing in recent years, thanks in part to an influx of Asian buyers, particularly from China. But they’re also climbing fast because rich investors are viewing art as a safe place to park their cash amid a crackdown on Swiss banks.
Reclining Nude
Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920)
Medium: oil on canvas
Size: 59.9 x 92 cm
MODIGLIANI’S RECLINING NUDE FETCHES SECOND-HIGHEST
A painting by Amedeo Modigliani has fetched $170 million, only $9 million less than Picasso’s Women of Algiers in New York auction, setting a world record for the artist.
Reclining Nude was sold at Christie’s after a protracted bidding battle. It was the second highest price ever achieved at auction for a work of art.
Christie’s said the painting was bought by private Chinese collectors. The Wall Street Journal named them as the billionaire investor Liu Yiqian and his wife, Wang Wei.
Pointing Man
Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966)
Medium: Bronze
Height: 177.5 cm
GIACOMETTI SCULPTURE BREAKS WORLD RECORD
“L’homme au doigt” (Pointing man), a 1947 sculpture by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), has set a world record for a sculpture. The bronze figure was sold for $141.3 million in New York.
This was in line with the pre-sale estimate of about $130 million. Auction house Christie’s did not reveal the buyer of the 1.78-metre sculpture.
The previous record of $104.3 million had been held by Giacometti’s “L’Homme qui marche I” (Walking man) since 2010.
Images courtesy of Christie’s
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