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On May 12, 2015, at Christie's New York auction, another price record was broken: the sculpture "Pointing Man" by Alberto Giacometti was sold for $141.3 million. This is almost $40 million more than the previous top lot - another work by the Swiss master, "Walking Man I" " Learn more about which sculptors’ works are popular at auctions and how much collectors are willing to pay for them

"Pointing Man", 1947

"Pointing Man" is the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction. This is one of six similar bronze statues by Giacometti created in 1947. The sculpture, which went under the hammer at Christie’s, has been stored in private collection. Its previous owner bought the work in 1970 from American collectors Fred and Florence Olsen. They, in turn, purchased the masterpiece in 1953 from the son of the famous French artist Henri Matisse Pierre. The rest of the “pointing” sculptures are kept in museums around the world, including the New York MoMA and the London Tate gallery, as well as in private collections.

The lot sold at Christie’s differs from others in that Giacometti painted it by hand. The sculptor created the statue in a few hours - between midnight and nine in the morning, he told his biographer. The Swiss master was preparing for his first personal exhibition in New York in 15 years. “I had already made a plaster cast, but I destroyed it and created it again and again because the foundry workers had to pick it up in the morning. When they got the cast, the plaster was still wet,” he recalled.

The sculptor began depicting thin, highly elongated figures of people, symbolizing loneliness and the precariousness of existence, after the Second World War, during which Giacometti was forced to move from France to Switzerland and settle in Geneva.

Giacometti's works are considered among the most expensive on the modern art market. On the eve of the auction, experts estimated the cost of “Pointing Man” at $130 million - higher than the cost of the previous record holder, “Walking Man I” by the same author. The name of the buyer who paid $141.3 million for the sculpture has not been disclosed.

"Walking Man I", 1961

"Walking Man I" is considered one of the most recognizable sculptures of the 20th century. The work, along with a portrait of its author, is even depicted on the 100 Swiss francs banknote. In 2010, it appeared at auction for the first time in twenty years - the lot was put up by the German Dresdner Bank AG, which acquired the masterpiece for a corporate collection, but after the takeover of Commerzbank got rid of the art objects. The sellers promised to donate the proceeds from “Walking Man I” to charity.

The sculpture caused a real stir. At least ten candidates competed for her in the hall, but the most high price ended up being offered by an anonymous buyer over the phone. The bidding lasted eight minutes, during which time the starting price of the lot rose five times (and together with commissions - almost six).

Newspaper experts The Wall Street Journal speculated that the anonymous buyer was Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who two years earlier had bought a bronze statue of a woman created by Giacometti in 1956. However, Bloomberg later found out that the owner of the statue was Lily Safra, the widow of Brazilian banker Edmond Safra.

“For the love of the Lord”, 2007

The sculpture, made by the famous British artist Damien Hirst from 2 kg of platinum, is a slightly reduced copy of the skull of a 35-year-old European man of the 18th century. The diamond slots (8,601 in total) are laser cut, the jaw is made of platinum, and the teeth are real. The skull is crowned with a pink diamond weighing 52.4 carats. The work cost the British artist, famous for his controversial installations using animal corpses in formaldehyde, £14 million.

Hirst claimed that the name of the sculpture was inspired by the words of his mother when she asked him: For the love of God, what are you going to do next? (“For God’s sake, what are you doing now?”). For the love of God is a verbatim quote from the First Epistle of John.

In 2007, the skull was exhibited at the White Cube gallery, and the same year it was sold for $100 million (£50 million). Bloomberg and The Washington Post wrote that the group of investors included Damien Hirst himself, as well as Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk. A representative of the White Cube gallery did not comment on the rumors, but reported that the buyers intend to subsequently resell Hirst's work.

"Head", 1910-1912

To work Amedeo Modigliani collectors bargained over the phone, and in the end the sculpture went under the hammer for $59.5 million, which was ten times higher than the starting price. The name of the buyer was not disclosed, but it is known that he is from Italy.

Modigliani did not study sculpture for long - from 1909 to 1913, when the artist returned to painting again, including due to tuberculosis. The “Head,” sold at Christie’s, is part of a collection of seven sculptures, “Pillars of Tenderness,” which the author exhibited in 1911 in the studio of the Portuguese artist Amadeo de Sousa-Cordoso. All works are distinguished by a pronounced oval head, almond-shaped eyes, a long, thin nose, a small mouth and an elongated neck. Experts also draw analogies between Modigliani’s sculpture and the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, which is kept in Egyptian Museum Berlin.

"Balloon Dog (Orange)", 1994-2000

The stainless steel dog came to auction from the collection of businessman Peter Brant, having previously been in the Museum contemporary art(MoMA) in New York, on the Grand Canal in Venice and in Palace of Versailles. The pre-sale estimate of the lot, three meters high and weighing a ton, was $55 million. The orange dog is the first of five “air” dogs created American artist. The remaining four sculptures also went to collections, but were sold at a lower price.

Commercial success came to Koons, a former Wall Street broker, in 2007. Then his giant metal installation “Hanging Heart” was sold at Sotheby’s for $23.6 million. The following year, the huge purple “Flower of balloon“went to Christie’s for $25.8 million. In 2012, the sculpture “Tulips” was sold at Christie’s for $33.7 million.

"Lioness of Guennola", circa 3000–2800 BC. e.

Created in Ancient Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago, a limestone figurine was found in 1931 in Iraq, near Baghdad. There are two holes preserved in the lioness's head for a cord or chain: it was intended to be worn around the neck. Since 1948, the work belonged to the famous American collector Alistair Bradley Martin and was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. When announcing the decision to sell the sculpture, Martin promised to use the proceeds for charity.

The antique “Lioness” set a record price for sculptures in 2007 at New York’s Sotheby’s, displacing Picasso’s bronze “Head of a Woman,” which sold less than a month earlier for $29.1 million, from first place. The final price for the sculpture exceeded the initial price by more than three times. Five buyers took part in the competition for the figurine; the winner of the auction wished to remain anonymous.

"Diego's Big Head", 1954

The bronze sculpture depicts Alberto Giacometti's younger brother Diego, who was the Swiss master's favorite model. There are several “Heads”; the last of the series was sold at Sotheby’s in 2013 for $50 million. “ Big head Diego" was cast for installation on a street square in New York; due to the death of the author, work on it was suspended. The estimate for the sculpture that went under the hammer at Christie’s was $25-35 million.

Giacometti is in the top 10 most dear artists world since 2002, after the sale of several works by the artist at Christie’s. The most expensive figurine sold then was the third of eight copies of the “Cage” sculpture - it was valued at $1.5 million. However, 2010 became a landmark year for the artist, when Giacometti’s works began to be valued at the same level as Picasso’s paintings.

“Nude female figure from the back IV”, 1958

Experts call the bronze bas-relief “Nude female figure from the back IV" is the most striking of the four works in the series "Standing with her back to the viewer", and the entire series is greatest creation modernist sculpture of the twentieth century.

Until 2010, none of the sculptures from this cycle were put up for auction, although the bas-relief sold at Christie’s is not the only one: a plaster cast for each series was cast in 12 copies at once. The height of one figure is 183 cm, weight - more than 270 kg. Now full episodes « Standing back to the viewer" are stored in nine leading museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London and the Pompidou Center in Paris. There were only two copies left in private collections, one of which was auctioned.

"Female Nude from the Back IV" was originally estimated at $25-35 million, and the amount paid for it was a record for a Matisse work ever sold at auction.

"Madame L.R.", 1914-1917

Legendary sculptor Romanian origin gained worldwide fame in Paris, where he lived for 35 years. His work has had great influence for development modern sculpture, Brancusi has been called the founder of sculptural abstraction. The Pompidou Center has had a separate “Brancusi Room” since its inception.

Wooden figurine of Madame L.R. was created by Brancusi in 1914-1917. This is one of his most famous works. It is believed that "Madame L.R." conveys the traditional style of Carpathian carving and the influence of African art on the author’s work. The sculpture was sold in 2009 at Christie's as part of the art collection of French couturier Yves Saint Laurent.

"Tulips", 1995-2004

“The numbers on the price tag sometimes seem astronomical to me. But people pay such sums because they dream of joining the art process. Their right,” Jeff Koons argued in an interview with Interview magazine after his “Tulips” were sold for $33.7 million. Koons is called the most successful American artist after Warhol.

“Tulips” are one of the most complex and large sculptures from the Holiday series (in apparent weightlessness they weigh more than three tons). This is a bouquet of seven flowers intertwined with each other from " balloons", made of stainless steel and coated with translucent paint.

The sculpture, which according to the author’s intention reveals the concept of childhood innocence, was bought in 2012 by one of the most extravagant heroes of Las Vegas, casino owner and billionaire Steve Wynn. He decided to showcase this acquisition at Wynn Las Vegas: The businessman embraces the idea of ​​“public art” and often exhibits items from his collection at the resorts he owns.

How much would you pay for the sculpture you see in the photo? At first glance, one gets the impression that this is the work of a first-year student, which he jotted down in a hurry for the next laboratory work on sculpture sculpting. And at second glance, too. If you try to estimate the cost of this, then the amounts that come to mind are from 5 to 25 dollars, no more. But everything is much more complicated; at the Sotheby’s auction, someone paid 104 million dollars for this figurine!

Walking Man sculpture sold for $104 million

This sculpture is called "Walking Man", it was created by the famous Swiss Alberto Giacometti. For Sotheby’s auction, this amount is an absolute record in the entire history of art trading. Before this, absolute primacy belonged to Pablo Picasso, whose painting "Boy with a Pipe" was sold in 2004 for $102 million.

Alberto Giacometti in his workshop

As far as we know, ten bidders competed for the Giacometti sculpture, but the winner was an anonymous buyer who bid by telephone. The cost of "Walking Man" during the auction increased six times compared to the original price.

Sold at public auctions:

1. Bronze statue 183 cm high. The author is the famous Swiss master Alberto Giacometti. The sculpture was created in 1961. Sold on 02/03/2010 at Sotheby’s (London) for $104.327 million. This work art broke all records, becoming the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction.

2. Skull made of platinum and encrusted with diamonds. It is a slightly reduced copy of the skull of a 35-year-old European man who lived between 1720 and 1810. The author is British artist Damien Hirst. In 2007, the skull was exhibited at White Cube, after which it was purchased for investment purposes for 50 million pounds sterling or $100 million. at the moment « Diamond Skull Damien Hirst" is the most expensive work of art of our time (during the artist's lifetime).

9. "Head of a Woman"(Tete de Femme, Dora Maar) by the great Spanish artist, sculptor, graphic artist and designer Pablo Picasso. The sculpture depicts the French artist and photographer Dora Maar, Picasso's lover. In November 2007, “Head of a Woman, Dora Maar,” 80 cm high, was sold at Sotheby’s for $29.161 million.

The list below does not pretend to be a strict rating status: neither the age of the work, nor the material from which it is made, nor the place of sale (gallery or auction) matters; the main thing is that all these transactions did not go unnoticed by the art market. And of course, the amounts are impressive

Alberto Giacometti. walking man

1961. Height 183 cm. Estimate: 12-18 million pounds. Price: 65 million pounds ($104.3 million). Sotheby's. London. February 3, 2010

Damien Hirst. For the love of the Lord

2006. 17.1 x 12.7 x 19.1 cm. Price: 100 million dollars. Private sale. August 2007

Unknown author. Lioness Guennola

OK. 3000–2800 BC e. Height 8.26 cm. Estimate: 14–18 million dollars. Price: $57,161,000. Sotheby's. New York. December 5, 2007

This tiny sculpture, just over eight (!) centimeters high, was created about 5 thousand years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. The figurine was found in Iraq, near Baghdad. It's hard to believe, but she is the same age as the wheel, money and the world's first big cities! The baby lioness spent almost 60 years in the collection of Alastair Bradley Martin until they decided to put her up for auction in 2007. At Sotheby's the sculpture exceeded the estimate three times and became the most expensive work ancient art in history. It was intended to be worn around the neck.

Pablo Picasso. Woman's head

(Dora Maar). 1941. Height 80 cm. Estimate: 20–30 million dollars. Price: $29,161,000. Sotheby's, New York. November 7, 2007

The sculpture of the artist's beloved Dora Maar with chubby cheeks was cast in two copies. In a record year for the art market in 2007, the work became the most expensive sculpture in the world, but it did not hold this proud title for long: less than a month later, “Doru Maar” was knocked off its pedestal by “The Lioness of Guennola.”

Unknown author. Artemis with a doe

1st century BC e. - I century AD e. Height 92.1 cm. Estimate: 5–7 million dollars. Price: $28,600,000. Sotheby's. New York. June 7, 2007

This beautiful sculpture is amazingly well preserved. At the Sotheby’s auction, a real “bidding war” broke out for it: first, two potential buyers “fired out” at around 12 million dollars, then a third joined the game, and the price of the sculpture rose to 28 million in ten minutes, exceeding the upper estimate four times. So “Artemis with a Doe” became the most expensive work ancient art.

Alberto Giacometti. Big standing woman

1959–1960. Height 274 cm. Estimate was not publicly disclosed. Price: $27,481,000. Christie's. New York. May 6, 2008

This bronze female figure, with arms and legs as thin as twigs, looks very fragile in the photograph, but in fact she is a real giantess: her height is almost three meters!.. Four such sculptures were cast, and “Large Standing Woman II” is the highest among them. Like Walking Man I, it was commissioned by Chase Manhattan Bank. "Big standing woman II" was purchased by none other than the eminent dealer Larry Gagosian.

Constantin Brancusi. Bird in space

1922–1923. Height 121.9 cm. Estimate: 8–12 million dollars. Price: $27,456,000. Christie's. New York. May 4, 2005

“Bird in Space” appeared on the art market quite unexpectedly, one might say, like a jack-in-the-box. When the Christie’s auction catalog for works of impressionists and modernists was already ready, the auction house expert Thomas Seydoux was approached by a client who wished to put up for sale an unknown sculpture by Brâncuşi. According to the seller, the work was discovered in the attic of a mansion on an estate somewhere in northern Europe. Of course, experts began to doubt whether it was a fake, because not a single researcher of Brâncuşi’s work had ever heard of this work. The sculpture was sent to the main authority on Brancusi, Friedrich Teja Bach, who established that the ancestors of the owner of the work acquired it from Alexandre Stoppelaere, husband socialite, patroness of avant-garde artists Léonie Ricou.

Jeff Koons. Balloon flower

(Purple) 1995–2000. 40 x 285 x 260 cm. Price: $25,783,062. Christie's. London. June 30, 2008

"Balloon Flower (Purple)" is the most expensive sculpture by a living artist ever sold at auction. He also ranks second on the list of most expensive work living artists. This huge stainless steel sculpture is part of the famous Celebration series, which includes all the artist’s most famous creations: “Inflatable Dog”, “Tulips”, “Hanging Heart” and so on.

David Smith. Cubi XXVIII

1965. 114.3 x 274.3 x 279.4 cm. Estimate: 8–12 million dollars. Price: $23,816,000. Sotheby's. New York. November 9, 2005

Cubi XXVIII was the last in this series; shortly after its creation, the artist died in a car accident. Sculpture for a long time was in the Guggenheim Museum in New York until they decided to put it up for auction. On November 9, 2005, at Sotheby’s New York, Cubi XXVIII became the most expensive work by a post-war artist. It was bought by the same Larry Gagosian, but not for his gallery, but on behalf of collector Eli Broad.

Jeff Koons. Hanging heart

1994–2006. 101.6 x 296.2 x 215.9 cm. Estimate: 15–20 million dollars. Price: $23,561,000. Sotheby's. New York. November 14, 2007

And here is another work by Koons from the “Triumph” series. Last November, she took first place in the list of the most expensive works living artists and stayed there for six months until she was thrown out of there by Lucian Freud's Sleeping Benefits Inspector. “Hanging Heart” was bought by Larry Gagosian, but again not for himself, but for a certain mega-collector. Interestingly, the seller of the work, Adam Lindemann, purchased it a year earlier (where would you think?) at the Gagosian Gallery, paying “only” 4 million for it - that is, in a year the price of the sculpture increased by 19 million dollars! Now “Hanging Heart” can be seen at the Koons exhibition... in Versailles, France.

Damien Hirst. Sleepy spring

2002. 10.2 x 182.9 x 274 cm. Estimate: 6–8 million dollars. Price: $19,213,272. Sotheby's. London. June 21, 2007

Before the high-profile sale of “Hanging Heart,” the first place in the list of the most expensive works by living artists was occupied by “Sleepy Spring” by Damien Hirst. This is one of two installations on our list of 3D troublemakers - a thin transparent cabinet containing more than six thousand multi-colored tablets. The work was bought by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Emir of Qatar. Medical themes, like skulls, occupy a special place in Hirst’s work. Recently, the artist designed the website and CD covers of his friends in his “corporate style” - The group Hours. In addition, he acted as art director for their new video clip, in which famous actress Sienna Miller portrays a patient psychiatric hospital

Pablo Picasso. Crane

1951–1952. Height 72.4 cm. Estimate: 10–15 million dollars. Price: $19,193,000. Sotheby's. New York. May 7, 2008

Picasso, like many 20th-century artists, often created sculptures from utilitarian objects. Then he made plaster casts from the resulting “assemblages” and cast the resulting figures in bronze. The artist created the “crane” from a shovel, rods, forks, a tap, nuts and a pin

Auguste Rodin. Eve, large model

OK. 1885. Height 173 cm. Estimate: 9–12 million dollars. Price: $18,969,000. Christie's. New York. May 6, 2008

On May 6 this year, the price record was broken not only for works by Giacometti, but also for the work of the predecessor of all modernist sculpture, Auguste Rodin. His “Eva, large model without pedestal” was sold at Christie’s for $18.9 million. "Eve" is part of the monumental sculptural group "The Gates of Hell", which includes almost two hundred figures. Initially it was assumed that the “Gates of Hell” would decorate the main entrance of the Museum decorative arts Paris, but these plans were not destined to come true: the museum was never built. Many works of the master, including famous sculpture"The Thinker" were intended as sketches for figures from this sculptural group.

The art of sculpture in our time has probably reached its apogee, at least as regards the price and demand for the works of masters. On May 12, 2015, at Christie's auction (the world's largest auction house after Sotheby's) in New York, another price record was broken: the rather controversial sculpture "Man Pointing" by Alberto Giacometti was sold for an incredible the amount of 141.3 million dollars! This is almost 40 million more than the previous top lot - another work by this Swiss master, “Walking Man I”.

Sculpture "Pointing Man", 1947

Height: 180 cm

Price: $141.3 million

Place, time of sale: Christie's, May 2015

"Pointing Man" is the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction. This is one of six similar bronze statues by Giacometti created in 1947. The sculpture, which went under the hammer at Christie's, has been kept in a private collection for the last 45 years. Its former owner bought the work from American collectors Fred and Florence Olsen in 1970. They, in turn, purchased the masterpiece in 1953 from the son of the famous French artist Henri Matisse Pierre. The remaining "pointing" sculptures are kept in museums around the world, including New York's MoMA and London gallery Tate, and also in private collections.

The lot sold at Christie's differs from others in that Giacometti painted it by hand. The sculptor created the statue in a few hours - between midnight and nine in the morning, he told his biographer. The Swiss master was preparing for his first exhibition in New York in 15 years. “I had already made a plaster cast, but I destroyed it and created it again and again because the foundry workers had to pick it up in the morning. When they got the cast, the plaster was still wet,” he recalled.

The sculptor began depicting thin, highly elongated figures of people, symbolizing loneliness and the precariousness of existence, after the Second World War, during which Giacometti was forced to move from France to Switzerland and settle in Geneva. Giacometti's works are considered among the most expensive on the modern art market. On the eve of the auction, experts estimated the cost of "Pointing Man" at $130 million - higher than the cost of the previous record holder, "Walking Man I" by the same author. The name of the buyer who paid $141.3 million for the sculpture has not been disclosed.

Sculpture "Walking Man I", 1961

Height: 183 cm

Price: $104.3 million

Place, time: Sotheby's, February 2010

"Walking Man I" is considered one of the most recognizable sculptures of the 20th century. The work, along with a portrait of its author, is even depicted on the 100 Swiss francs banknote. In 2010, it appeared at auction for the first time in twenty years - the lot was put up by the German Dresdner Bank AG, which acquired the masterpiece for a corporate collection, but after the takeover of Commerzbank got rid of the art objects. The sellers promised to donate the proceeds from “Walking Man I” to charity.

The sculpture caused a real stir. At least ten contenders competed for it in the hall, but the highest price was eventually offered by an anonymous buyer over the phone. The bidding lasted eight minutes, during which time the starting price of the lot rose five times (and together with commissions - almost six).

Experts from The Wall Street Journal suggested that the anonymous buyer was Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who two years earlier bought a bronze statue of a woman created by Giacometti in 1956. However, Bloomberg later found out that the owner of the statue was Lily Safra, the widow of Brazilian banker Edmond Safra.

Sculpture "For the Love of the Lord", 2007

Dimensions: 17.1 x 12.7 x 19.1 cm

Price: $100 million

Place, time: 2007

The sculpture, made by the famous British artist Damien Hirst from 2 kg of platinum, is a slightly reduced copy of the skull of a 35-year-old European man of the 18th century. The diamond slots (8,601 in total) are laser cut, the jaw is made of platinum, and the teeth are real. The skull is crowned with a pink diamond weighing 52.4 carats. The work cost the British artist, famous for his controversial installations using animal corpses in formaldehyde, £14 million.

Hirst claimed that the name of the sculpture was inspired by the words of his mother when she asked him: For the love of God, what are you going to do next? ("For God's sake, what are you doing now?"). For the love of God is a verbatim quote from the First Epistle of John.

In 2007, the skull was exhibited at the White Cube gallery, and the same year it was sold for $100 million (£50 million). Bloomberg and The Washington Post wrote that the group of investors included Damien Hirst himself, as well as Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk. A representative of the White Cube gallery did not comment on the rumors, but reported that the buyers intend to subsequently resell Hirst's work.

Sculpture "Head", 1910-1912

Height: 65 cm

Price: $59.5 million

Place, time: Christie's, June 2010

Collectors bid over the phone for the work of Amedeo Modigliani, and the sculpture was eventually auctioned off for $59.5 million, which was ten times higher than the starting price. The name of the buyer was not disclosed, but it is known that he is from Italy.

Modigliani did not study sculpture for long - from 1909 to 1913, when the artist returned to painting again, including due to tuberculosis. "Head", sold at Christie's, is part of a collection of seven sculptures "Pillars of Tenderness", which the author exhibited in 1911 in the studio of the Portuguese artist Amadeo de Souza-Cordoso. All works are distinguished by a pronounced oval head, almond-shaped eyes, long, thin nose, small mouth and elongated neck. Experts also draw analogies between Modigliani’s sculpture and the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, which is kept in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.

Sculpture "Balloon Dog (orange)", 1994-2000

Dimensions: 307.3 x 363.2 x 114.3 cm

Price: $58 million

Place, time: Christie's, November 2013

The stainless steel dog came to auction from the collection of businessman Peter Brant, having previously visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Grand Canal in Venice and the Palace of Versailles. The pre-sale estimate for the lot, three meters high and weighing a ton, was $55 million. The orange dog is the first of five “airy” dogs created by the American artist. The remaining four sculptures also went to collections, but were sold at a lower price.

Commercial success came to Koons, a former Wall Street broker, in 2007. Then his giant metal installation “Hanging Heart” was sold at Sotheby’s for $23.6 million. The following year, the huge purple “Balloon Flower” went to Christie’s for $25.8 million. In 2012, the sculpture “Tulips” "was sold at Christie's for $33.7 million.

Sculpture of the Lioness of Guennol, circa 3000-2800 BC.

Height: 8.26 cm

Price: $57.1 million

Place, time: Sotheby's, January 2007

Created in Ancient Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago, the limestone figurine was found in 1931 in Iraq, near Baghdad. There are two holes preserved in the lioness's head for a cord or chain: it was intended to be worn around the neck. Since 1948, the work belonged to the famous American collector Alistair Bradley Martin and was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. When announcing the decision to sell the sculpture, Martin promised to use the proceeds for charity.

The antique "Lioness" set a record price for sculptures in 2007 at Sotheby's in New York, displacing Picasso's bronze "Head of a Woman" from first place, which was sold less than a month earlier for $29.1 million. The final price for the sculpture exceeded the initial price more than three times. Five buyers took part in the competition for the figurine; the winner of the auction wished to remain anonymous.

Sculpture "Diego's Big Head", 1954

Height: 65 cm

Price: $53.3 million

Place, time: Christie's, May 2010

The bronze sculpture depicts Alberto Giacometti's younger brother Diego, who was the Swiss master's favorite model. There are several “Heads”; the last of the series was sold at Sotheby’s in 2013 for $50 million. “Diego’s Big Head” was cast for installation on a street square in New York; due to the death of the author, work on it was suspended. Estimate of the sculpture , which went under the hammer at Christie's, was $25-35 million.

Giacometti has been in the top 10 most expensive artists in the world since 2002, after selling several of the artist’s works at Christie’s. The most expensive figurine sold then was the third of eight copies of the “Cage” sculpture - it was valued at $1.5 million. However, 2010 became a landmark year for the artist, when Giacometti’s works began to be valued at the level of Picasso’s paintings.

Sculpture "Nude female figure from the back IV", 1958

Height: 183 cm

Price: $48.8 million

Place, time: Christie's, November 2010

Experts call the bronze bas-relief "Nude Female Figure from the Back IV" the most striking of the four works in the series "Standing with her back to the viewer", and the entire series - the greatest creation of modernist sculpture of the 20th century.

Until 2010, none of the sculptures from this cycle were put up for auction, although the bas-relief sold at Christie's is not the only one: a plaster cast for each series was cast in 12 copies at once. The height of one figure is 183 cm, weight - more than 270 kg Now the complete series of “Standing with His Back to the Viewer” are kept in nine leading museums in the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London and the Pompidou Center in Paris. Only two copies remained in private collections. of which was sold under the hammer.

"Female Nude from the Back IV" was originally estimated at $25-35 million, and the amount paid for it was a record for a Matisse work ever sold at auction.

Sculpture "Madame L.R.", 1914-1917

Price: $37.2 million

Place, time: Christie's, February 2009

The legendary sculptor of Romanian origin gained worldwide fame in Paris, where he lived for 35 years. His work had a great influence on the development of modern sculpture; Brancusi was called the founder of sculptural abstraction. The Pompidou Center has had a separate “Brancusi Room” since its inception.

Wooden figurine of Madame L.R. was created by Brancusi in 1914-1917. This is one of his most famous works. It is believed that "Madame L.R." conveys the traditional style of Carpathian carving and the influence of African art on the author’s work. The sculpture was sold in 2009 at Christie's as part of the art collection of French couturier Yves Saint Laurent.

Sculpture "Tulips", 1995-2004

Price: $33.7 million

Place, time: Christie's, November 2012

“The numbers on the price tag sometimes seem astronomical to me. But people pay such sums because they dream of joining the art process. Their right,” Jeff Koons reasoned in an interview with Interview magazine after his “Tulips” were sold for $33. 7 million Koons is called the most successful American artist after Warhol.

“Tulips” are one of the most complex and large sculptures from the Holiday series (in apparent weightlessness, they weigh more than three tons). This is a bouquet of seven intertwined “balloon” flowers, made of stainless steel and coated with translucent paint.

The sculpture, which according to the author’s intention reveals the concept of childhood innocence, was bought in 2012 by one of the most extravagant heroes of Las Vegas, casino owner and billionaire Steve Wynn. He decided to showcase this acquisition at Wynn Las Vegas: the businessman adheres to the idea of ​​​​"public art" and often displays items from his collection at the resorts he owns.