Giacometti Fetches Auction Record at 58 Million Quid ($104 million)

A Giacometti sculpture barely out beat Picasso as the highest sold work of art at auction. "L'Homme Qui Marche I", a looming life-size bronze man, crafted by the Swiss artist sold for 58 million pounds at Sotheby's London on February 3, 2010 (including premium a total of 65 million pounds, equivalent to $104.3 million). It was estimated to sell between 12-18 million pounds. Prior to this sale, the highest paid work of art at an auction was Pablo Picasso's "Garcon a la pipe" sold in New York for $104 million in 2004. According to the editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper, Georgina Adam, the reason the Giacometti sold for such a high amount is because they are rarely seen at auction.  The Giacometti sold to an unknown collector. Kipton Cronkite of KiptonART states, "This sale re-enforces that the most astute collectors are continuing to support the blue chip artists. Though I have esteemed respect for the masterpieces created by Alberto Giacometti, $100 million could do so much to support the emerging artists in any community." 
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Image courtesy of AFB/Getty Images; Carl de Souza