List of most expensive sculptures

This is a list of the highest known prices paid for sculptures.

## Most valuable sculptures

[edit]

Alberto Giacometti's L'Homme au doigt was auctioned for $141.3 million at Christie's in May 2015, the highest price for any sculpture at auction.[1] Giacometti's L'Homme qui marche I had previously achieved the highest price of any sculpture when it was auctioned by Sotheby's in February 2010. Selling for US$104.3 million, it ranks amongst the most valuable works of art.[2]

In 2005, Constantin Brâncuși's Bird in Space broke records when it sold for $27.5 million. The previous world record was another work by Brâncuși called Danaide, which was sold for $18.1 million in May 2002.[3] The 2005 record stood for two years until a highly regarded work of antiquity surpassed the price. Artemis and the Stag, found in the 1920s at a Roman construction site, fetched $28.6 million in June 2007.[4] The record would only stand for a few months, with a work by Pablo Picasso, Tete de femme (Dora Maar), surpassing it by half a million US dollars in November 2007.[5]

In December 2007, the sale of the Guennol Lioness, a statue from around 3000 BC, nearly doubled the previous record price when it sold for $57.2 million. It is the fifth-most valuable sculpture to date (2018) and the most valuable piece from antiquity.[6]

Damien Hirst has claimed that his sculpture For the Love of God, which consists of a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, was sold for £50 million (around US$75 million) in August 2007. The truth of this private sale, which was to an unknown consortium, has been called into question. If the sale did take place, For the Love of God would become the second-most expensive sculpture ever sold and would have fetched the highest price for a sculpture by a living artist.[7]

2010 was a good year for record-breaking sculpture prices but it did not continue into 2011. Jeff Koons' porcelain Pink Panther was estimated to fetch a value of up to $30 million, but only achieved just over half that.[8]

Louise Bourgeois holds the record ($32.1 million in 2019) for Spider, the highest price paid for an attributable sculpture by a woman (since the sculptor of Guennol Lioness is unknown).[9]

## Auction details

[edit]

All the most expensive sculptures have been sold by one of two auction houses: Sotheby's and Christie's. Sotheby's has hosted the auctions of the two works that reached the highest price, one in London and the other in New York. Only three of the top ten have auctioned outside of New York; one in London and two in Paris.

The top ten highest value sculptures were made by seven different people, two of whom are unknown and will never be identified. An Alberto Giacometti sculpture is the most valuable modern work, and he has three more entries in the top ten. Four Constantin Brâncuși sculptures are featured on the list,[10] and Jeff Koons' work appears three times. Although Pablo Picasso only appears once he appears numerous times in the list of most expensive paintings.

Several buyers have chosen to remain anonymous, while others publicly celebrate their purchases.

## List of highest prices paid

[edit]

The highest prices paid for sculptures as of August 2020[update]:[10][11]

Adjusted price (in millions US)  | Original price (in millions US)  | Sculpture  | Image  | Artist  | Year  | Date of sale  | Seller  | Buyer  | Auction house  | Refs

|
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|
|
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$187.4  | $141.3  | L'Homme au doigt |  | Alberto Giacometti | 1947  | 11 May 2015 | Sheldon Solow | Private collection | Christie's, New York  | [12]
$150.4  | $104.3  | L'Homme qui marche I |  | Alberto Giacometti | 1961  | 3 February 2010 | Commerzbank | Lily Safra | Sotheby's, London  | [2]
$134.2  | $101.0  | Chariot |  | Alberto Giacometti | 1950  | 4 November 2014 |  | Steven A. Cohen | Sotheby's, New York  | [13]
$112  | $91.1  | Rabbit[note 1] |  | Jeff Koons | 1986  | 15 May 2019 | Estate of S. I. Newhouse | Steven A. Cohen (via Robert Mnuchin)  | Christie's, New York  | [14]
$88.9  | $71  | La jeune fille sophistiquée (Portrait de Nancy Cunard) |  | Constantin Brâncuși | 1928-1932  | 15 May 2018 | Elizabeth Stafford  | Private

collection

| Christie's, New York  | [15]
$93.9  | $70.7  | Tête |  | Amedeo Modigliani | 1911-1912  | 4 November 2014 |  |  | Sotheby's, New York  | [16]
$85.8  | $59.5  | Tête |  | Amedeo Modigliani | 1910–1912  | 14 June 2010 | Gaston Levy | Private collection  | Christie's, Paris  | [17][18]
$78.8  | $58.4  | Balloon Dog (Orange) |  | Jeff Koons | 1994–2000  | 12 November 2013 | Private collection  | Private collection  | Christie's, New York  | [19]
$73.5  | $57.3  | La muse endormie |  | Constantin Brâncuși | 1913  | 15 May 2017 | Jacques Ulmann  | Private

collection

| Christie's, New York  | [20]
$86.7  | $57.2  | Guennol Lioness |  | Unknown  |  c.3000 BC  | 5 December 2007 | Alastair Bradley Martin | Private collection  | Sotheby's, New York  | [6]
$76.9  | $53.3  | Grande tête mince |  | Alberto Giacometti | 1955  | 4 May 2010 | Sidney F. Brody | Private collection  | Christie's, New York  | [21]
$67.5  | $50.0  | Grand tête mince (Grand tête de Diego) |  | Alberto Giacometti | 1955  | 6 November 2013 | Private collection  | Bill Acquavella | Sotheby's, New York  | [22][23]
$70.4  | $48.8  | Nu de dos, 4 état (Back IV) |  | Henri Matisse | 1958  | 3 November 2010 | Private collection  | Private collection  | Christie's, New York  | [24]
$55.1  | $37.6  | Madame LR (Portrait de Mme LR) |  | Constantin Brâncuși | 1914–17  | 24 February 2009 | Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé | Private collection  | Christie's, Paris  | [25]
$44.9  | $33.8  | Jim Beam J.b. Turner Train |  | Jeff Koons | 1986  | 31 May 2014 |  |  | Christie's, New York  | [26]
$46.2  | $33.7  | Tulips |  | Jeff Koons | 1995-2004  | 14 November 2012 |  |  | Christie's, New York  |
$39.5  | $32.1  | Spider |  | Louise Bourgeois | 1996  | 15 May 2019 |  |  |

Christie's, New York

| [27]
$41.1  | $31  | Winged Genius |  | Unknown  | c. 883 - 859 B.C.  | 31 October 2018 | Virginia Theological Seminary | Private collection  | Christie's, New York  | [28]
$41.2  | $30.1  | Reclining Figure: Festival |  | Henry Moore | 1951  | 30 June 2016 | Private collection  | Private collection  | Christie's, London  | [5]
$49.9  | $29.1  | Tete de femme (Dora Maar) |  | Pablo Picasso | 1941  | 7 November 2007 | Private collection  | Franck Giraud | Sotheby's, New York  | [5]
$43.4  | $28.6  | Artemis and the Stag |  | Unknown  |  c.100 BC – 100 AD  | 7 June 2007 | Albright-Knox Art Gallery | Private collection  | Sotheby's, New York  | [4]
$37.5  | $28.2  | Popeye |  | Jeff Koons | 2009 - 2011  | 14 May 2014 |  |  | Sotheby's, New York  | [29]
$44.3  | $27.5  | Bird in Space |  | Constantin Brâncuși | 1922–1923  | 5 May 2005 | Private collection  | Private collection  | Christie's, New York  | [3]
$40.2  | $27.5  | Grande Femme Debout II |  | Alberto Giacometti | 1961  | 6 May 2008 |  |  | Christie's, New York  | [30]

## See also

[edit]

* List of most expensive paintings
* List of most expensive photographs
* List of most expensive artworks by living artists
* List of most expensive books and manuscripts
* List of most expensive non-fungible tokens

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Most expensive sculpture by a living artist

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Kazakina, Katya (2015-05-12). "Giacometti Sculpture Sells for $141.3 Million at Christie's". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
2. ^ a b Giacometti Sculpture 'L'Homme qui marche I' Fetches $104.3 Million, World Record: Sotheby's (PHOTO). The Huffington Post. 5 April 2010. Accessed 20 October 2011.
3. ^ a b Sculpture breaks auction record. BBC News. 5 May 2005. Accessed 20 October 2011.
4. ^ a b West, Nina P. Artemis At The Top. Artfact.com, Forbes. 19 June 2007. Accessed 20 October 2011.
5. ^ a b c Crow, Kelly. Sotheby's "Aggressive" Sale Falls Flat. The Wall Street Journal. 8 November 2007. Accessed 20 October 2011.
6. ^ a b Lion sculpture gets record price. BBC News. 6 December 2007. Accessed 20 October 2011.
7. ^ Connet, David. The mystery of the £50m skull: Is Hirst's record sale all it seems?. The Independent. 2 September 2007. Accessed 21 October 2011.
8. ^ 2011 Auction Round-Up: Who's on Top and Who Flopped (PHOTOS, VIDEO). The Huffington Post. 13 August 2011. Accessed 5 November 2011.
9. ^ "The Most Expensive Female Artists 2016 - artnet News". artnet News. 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
10. ^ a b Fernández, G. Most Expensive Sculptures Ever Sold. theartwolf.com. November 2010. Accessed 19 October 2011.
11. ^ Most Expensive Sculpture In The World Archived 2012-04-24 at the Wayback Machine. Art-Katalog.com. Accessed 4 November 2011.
12. ^ Miller, M. H. (2015-04-15). "Giacometti's 'L'homme Au Doigt,' Coming to Auction for the First Time, Could Become Most Expensive Sculpture Ever". ARTnews.com. Archived from the original on Jul 29, 2018.
13. ^ Salmon, Felix (5 November 2014). "The Not So Special Hundred-Million-Dollar Giacometti". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on Feb 12, 2023.
14. ^ Reyburn, Scott (May 15, 2019). "Jeff Koons 'Rabbit' Sets Auction Record for Most Expensive Work by Living Artist". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
15. ^ "Constantin Brancusi's La jeune fille sophistiquée ( Portrait de Nancy Cunard)". Christie's. Archived from the original on Mar 17, 2019. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
16. ^ "Amedeo Modigliani - TÊTE". Sotheby's. Archived from the original on Nov 30, 2023.
17. ^ Reyburn, Scott. "Modigliani Sculpture Fetches 43.2 Million Euros, French Record". Bloomberg. 14 June 2010. Accessed 19 October 2011.
18. ^ "Gallery Talk: Amedeo Modigliani's Tête". Christie's. 7 June 2010. Accessed 19 October 2011.
19. ^ Abramovitch, Seth. "Jeff Koons' Balloon Dog Sculpture Sells for Record-Breaking $58.4 Million". The Hollywood Reporter. 12 November 2013. Accessed 12 November 2013.
20. ^ "Brancusi sells for a record $57.3 million as New York sales get off to 'fantastic start'". Christie's. 16 May 2017. Archived from the original on Mar 10, 2018. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
21. ^ Grande tête mince. Christie's. Accessed 20 October 2011.
22. ^ Crow, Kelly. Sotheby's Strong Sale Anchored by $50 Million Giacometti Bronze. The Wall Street Journal. 7 November 2013. Accessed 7 November 2013.
23. ^ Impressionist and Modern Art Sale's Triumphant Results. Sotheby's. 6 November 2012. Accessed 7 November 2013.
24. ^ In the Saleroom: Henri Matisse's Nu de dos, 4 état (Back IV). Christie's. 4 November 2010. Accessed 20 October 2011.
25. ^ Madame L.R. (Portrait de Mme L.R.). Christie's. Accessed 20 October 2011.
26. ^ "Jeff Koons (B. 1955), Jim Beam - J.B. Turner Train". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
27. ^ "Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010)".
28. ^ "A 3,000-Year-Old Stone Relief Sold for $31 Million at Christie's, Setting a New Record for Assyrian Art". 31 October 2018.
29. ^ "Jeff Koons - POPEYE". Sotheby's.
30. ^ "Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), Grande femme debout II". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2020-08-22.

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