da vinci sells for 450mn in auction record
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

In New York on Wednesday

Da Vinci sells for $450mn in auction record

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today Da Vinci sells for $450mn in auction record

500-year-old work of art, believed to be by Leonardo da Vinci
New York - AFP

A 500-year-old painting believed to be by Leonardo da Vinci sold for $450.3 million in New York on Wednesday, smashing a new world record for the most expensive work of art sold at auction, Christie's said.

The stunning price for "Salvator Mundi," which depicts Jesus Christ, more than doubled the previous record of $179.4 million paid for Pablo Picasso's "The Women of Algiers (Version O)" in New York in 2015.

Lost for years only to resurface at a regional US auction in 2005, Christie's says it is one of fewer than 20 Da Vinci paintings generally accepted as being from the Renaissance master's own hand.

All the others are held in museum or institutional collections.

Dated by Christie's to around 1500, the oil on panel sold after 19 minutes of frenzied bidding in a historic sale, the star lot of the November art season in the US financial capital.

The price throws shade at its Russian billionaire seller, who has sued a Swiss art dealer in Monaco for allegedly swindling him into parting with $127.5 million for the work in 2013.

The exact value of private sales are often not revealed. But a Willem de Kooning painting and a Gauguin were reportedly sold separately for $300 million each in 2015, according to US media reports.

The Da Vinci depicts a half-length figure of Jesus, holding a crystal orb in his left hand as he raises his right in benediction.

It was an incongruous solitary Old Master in the flagship November postwar and contemporary sale, which attracts the biggest spenders in the high-octane world of international billionaire art collectors.

- Controersy -

Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen opened bidding at $75 million, pulling in 45 bids from clients on the phone and in the room. 

Whoops and applause rippled through the packed room of nearly 1,000 spectators as the bids quickly escalated into unchartered territory, coming down to two head-to-head rivals on the telephone.

The identity of the buyer was not immediately disclosed.

Pylkkanen eventually hammered the painting at $450 million. The final price came to $450.3 million including the buyer's premium.

Its seller Dmitry Rybolovlev, the boss of soccer club AS Monaco, accuses Yves Bouvier of conning him out of hundreds of million dollars by overcharging him on a string of deals, and pocketing the difference.

"Salvator Mundi" had been at the heart of that battle. It was not immediately clear what impact the sale would have on court proceedings.

Bouvier bought the work at Sotheby's for $80 million in 2013. He resold it within days to the Russian tycoon, for $127.5 million, netting a $47.5 million profit. Bouvier has denied any wrongdoing.

The auction house, which declined to comment on the controversy, had valued the painting pre-sale at $100 million.

 

- 'Holy Grail' -

 

Nearly 30,000 people flocked to see the work in Christie's showrooms in Hong Kong, London, San Francisco and New York, the first time the painting was shown in Asia or the United States.

The work was exhibited at The National Gallery in London in 2011, after years of research trying to document its authenticity after it was found, mistaken for a copy, in a US auction in 2005.

Before that it had disappeared for years, previously fetching a mere 45 pounds ($60 in today's money) in 1958 as a believed copy.

Christie's said pre-sale that the painting's rarity was difficult to overstate. For years it was presumed to have been destroyed, emerging only in 2005 when it was purchased from a US estate.

"For auction specialists, this is pretty much the Holy Grail," Loic Gouzer, co-chairman of Christie's Americas postwar and contemporary art department, has said. "It doesn't really get better than that."  

Christie's says the painting belonged to England's Charles I and Charles II, and probably remained at Whitehall during the reign of his successor, James II, before passing to his mistress.

It subsequently disappeared. There is speculation that da Vinci made it for the French royal family and that it was taken to England by Queen Henrietta Maria when she married King Charles I in 1625.

Christie's says that of the roughly 20 known contemporary copies of the Mundi, some by pupils or followers of the artist, none is of sufficient quality to support an attribution to the master himself.

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

da vinci sells for 450mn in auction record da vinci sells for 450mn in auction record



GMT 10:12 2017 Friday ,04 August

Suspicion of the theft of the leading art museum

GMT 11:04 2017 Saturday ,11 February

'Violence' moves New York museum

GMT 13:12 2016 Saturday ,24 September

'Man-goat' among winners

GMT 12:41 2016 Saturday ,03 September

New York 9 / 11 museum welcomes art

GMT 11:27 2016 Saturday ,13 August

With attack on US gun culture

GMT 06:29 2011 Monday ,14 November

Matthew cruises to win at Ochoa Invitational

GMT 03:34 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

Tillerson to skip NATO meeting next month

GMT 13:44 2013 Friday ,15 March

Israel suppress Palestinian demonstrations

GMT 16:15 2017 Monday ,01 May

Moroccan Workers’ Syndicate

GMT 11:56 2016 Wednesday ,12 October

Toyota, Suzuki eye partnership as industry consolidates

GMT 15:42 2011 Thursday ,23 June

Express checks in with foursquare

GMT 10:49 2017 Sunday ,13 August

Car rams into crowd at violent Virginia rally

GMT 17:45 2013 Sunday ,20 October

5 Indian spices that are good for your health

GMT 08:41 2012 Saturday ,15 September

Italian magazine: will print Kate topless snaps

GMT 08:02 2012 Tuesday ,05 June

Zoe Saldana in Prabal Gurung

GMT 06:11 2012 Saturday ,15 September

Tunisia’s Media Conflict: Journalists fight for freedom

GMT 14:35 2015 Friday ,24 July

Awqaf Minister hails New Suez Canal project

GMT 16:34 2017 Thursday ,28 December

Hitler's Nazi-parade Mercedes set

GMT 11:22 2011 Monday ,10 October

Paul McCartney to play in Moscow in December

GMT 05:17 2015 Friday ,25 September

Pope expresses solidarity with Muslims after stampede

GMT 05:44 2012 Saturday ,21 April

ATV engine 95 HP

GMT 03:01 2011 Monday ,19 September

Laughter, tears at US television\'s Emmy awards

GMT 12:04 2012 Wednesday ,07 March

6 Music animation draws on 10 years of eclectic radio

GMT 01:00 2015 Sunday ,05 April

Barzani congratulates Abadi on Tikrit victory

GMT 13:24 2015 Thursday ,15 October

Tesla installs 'autopilot' update

GMT 06:17 2012 Monday ,02 January

Countries across the world celebrate the New Year

GMT 04:07 2016 Tuesday ,07 June

For new era of self-driving cars

GMT 08:21 2017 Saturday ,23 December

Saudi-Sudanese Deal to Ease Transfers

GMT 11:08 2017 Thursday ,21 December

Asian markets mostly down as tax cut euphoria wanes
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday