This week Sotheby’s sold Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture, L’Homme Qui Marche I, for $104.3 million, pushing Picasso out of the highest grossing spot. The importance of this news isn’t the sheer amount of the purchase, which went to an unknown buyer out of New York, but the fact that the work auctioned for three times the amount Sotheby’s originally anticipated.
Does this mean the wealthy have decided that art is once again a safe investment? The answer appears to be a resounding yes. Great news for both artists and art lovers around the world that have been witnessing a downward spiral of the art market over the last year.
Another interesting point is that the Giacometti purchase could signal a rising dominance of modern art in the marketplace. Most of Giacometti’s work falls between 1940-1965, possibly signaling a move away from the market dominance of great masters and towards more contemporary—and potentially still producing—artists.
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