Sotheby’s famed auction room was filled with gasps followed by shocked silence after an iconic statue priced far too ambitiously failed to sell at auction.
Billionaires descended on the New York City event on Tuesday in the hope of snagging a masterpiece created by the likes of Picasso, Monet or Matisse.
But it was Alberto Giacometti’s 1955 bronze bust, called Grand tête mince, that was billed as the auction’s centerpiece by experts who gave it a $70 million guide price.
Esteemed art journalist Judith Benhamou captured the excruciating drama that followed as auctioneer Oliver Baker began the bidding at $59 million.
A stony silence followed.
Multiple connoisseurs made frantic whispered phone calls while Barker glanced around for any signs of interest.
Barker’s hunched, tense pose was described as ‘Nosferatu-like’ by The New York Times.
In an attempt to inject some energy, Barker then launched into chandelier bidding – a practice where the auctioneer pretends to receive bids to build momentum.
But he got stuck on $64.25 million, which is still nine percent below the projected value for the sculpture.
After several minutes of buyers refusing to bite, Barker hunched over the rostrum and admitted defeat, with the statue withdrawn from sale.
America’s wealthy art collectors have been stunned into silence after a $70 million sculpture by Alberto Giacometti failed to sell at a Sotheby’s Modern auction this week. Auctioneer Oliver Barker (pictured) oversaw the tumbleweed moment when no-one made a single bid
Specialists excitedly billed the headline piece (pictured) as ‘both a painted sculpture and a sculpted painting’ in dramatic promotional videos for the New York City auction
The Art Newspaper and The New York Times both reported on the gasps that echoed around the room as the statue’s reputation was tarnished in real time.
And the Times – not known for being prone to hyperbole – even claimed that ‘a pall came over the entire salesroom.’
The abject rejection of the now-tarnished piece was a huge blow to Sotheby’s sales, since the artwork comprised almost 30 percent of the event’s presale low estimate of $240.3 million, according to the New York Times.
The dramatic sculpture previously smashed the record for the most expensive sculpture ever sold when it fetched $53.3 million at a Christie’s sale in 2010.
Specialists excitedly billed the headline piece as ‘both a painted sculpture and a sculpted painting’ in dramatic promotional videos for the Manhattan auction.
Giacometti’s piece, which is signed by the artist and portrays an abstract, jagged interpretation of his brother Diego, was greeted with stony silence by today’s buyers.
Art expert Todd Levin said the ambitious increase in the price of the sculpture since it was last sold in 2013 was likely to blame for its flop.
He told the Times: ‘No one who is an informed buyer who is serious in this market — billionaire or not — is going to pay what essentially amounts to a 50 percent premium on something that sold in recent memory.’
Alberto Giacometti’s 1955 painted bronze bust (pictured), called Grand tête mince, was billed to be the auction’s centerpiece by connoisseurs who valued it at $70 million
The dramatic bronze sculpture previously smashed the record for the most expensive sculpture ever sold when it fetched $53.3 million at a Christie’s sale in 2010
Sotheby’s did not use footage of the flop lot from their YouTube video of the auction.
A spokesperson sought to smooth over the embarrassment, saying: ‘Alberto Giacometti’s Grande tete mince is an extraordinary work by any measure; among the most arresting and significant sculptures to ever grace our galleries.
‘From the moment we announced, we saw interest from the world’s greatest collectors, both private and institutional, but Giacometti’s message has always been that fate rests on the edge of a knife-blade.
‘Despite the interest and even offers, it simply wasn’t its moment. Our belief in the work remains undiminished.’
Giacometti made six casts of the Grand tête mince, which translates to ‘big thin head’, the most recent of which sold for just over $50 million plus fees at Sotheby’s in 2013.
The piece auctioned this week, which shows the full side profile of his brother Diego’s likeness while distorting to a narrow knife-edge from the front view, is the only painted version.
The seller is the non-profit Soloviev Foundation, which offered the work without a minimum price guarantee from the auction house – a risky approach which allows the vendor to negotiate for a portion of the buyer’s fee.
Several experts said the optimistic valuation of the sculpture made it destined to fail at auction
Alex Glauber, the president of the Association of Professional Art Advisors, told the New York Times this might have dissuaded buyers.
‘There is an argument to be made that while guarantees typically undermine competitive bidding on a lot, in the case of the Giacometti one might have provided collectors with assurance and permission to pursue the sculpture,’ Glauber said.
The bust’s monumental flop could also have serious repercussions for the art world, by rumbling investors’ trust in the health of the art market.
Levin pushed back on this, arguing that the piece is ‘a singular entity’ which should be separated from the art world at large.
‘Trying to pull any opinion about the broad art market from this specificity would be an error,’ he told the NYT.