Alberto Giacometti – L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man). Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2015/© 2015 Alberto Giacometti Estate/Licensed by VAGA and ARS, New York UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $141,285,000 TO BECOME THE MOST VALUABLE SCULPTURE EVER SOLD AT AUCTION.
ESTIMATED at a phenomenal $130 million, Giacometti’s L’homme au doigt (Pointing Man) is set to be a star lot at Christie’s curated sale in New York on May 11. Cast in bronze and standing whippet-thin at five feet ten inches, this dynamic and powerful figure is widely recognized as one of the most important sculptural achievements of the Modern era, created by the greatest master of the medium. It has never before been offered at auction.
Pointing Man is among the great masterpieces in the collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Tate Gallery. Giacometti conceived the work in 1947 and made just six casts of it plus one artist’s proof. Today, four are in major museums; the remaining are in foundation collections and private hands. The extreme rarity of the work is underscored by the fact that the cast to be offered at Christie’s is believed to be the only bronze version of Pointing Manthat Giacometti painted by hand in order to heighten its expressive impact.
“Pointing Man is unquestionably Giacometti’s greatest sculpture. Executed after the War in one incredible night of creative fervour, this noble figure points mankind towards a brighter future beyond our limited horizons” said Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie’s global president. “It is quite simply one of the finest works of art I have had the honour to handle in my long career at Christie’s. The auction event on May 11 promises to be an extraordinary night for the global art market.”
“Since I’ve been in the auction business, I’ve always heard that Giacometti’s Pointing Man was the ultimate masterpiece of sculpture from a collector’s point of view. Being able to offer it in the same night alongside with Picasso’s ‘Les Femmes d’Alger (Version O)’ is more than just a dream come true – because I would have never dared to dream it,” said Loic Gouzer, Curator of the Looking Forward to the Past sale.
Giacometti remains the only sculptor whose work has surpassed the $100 million mark at auction. In the past five years four of his bronzes have sold for more than $50 million at auction. Walking Man holds the current record for any work by the artist at $103.9 million.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 25, 2015).
