The Tamesis
A sculpture by Constantin Brancuşi, formerly owned by media magnate SI Newhouse, once one of the world’s top art collectors, sold for $93 million at Christie’s on Monday night, breaking the modernist sculptor’s auction record. With fees, the total comes to $107.6 million
The work began with an $82 million bid and received six bids before selling to a buyer represented by Maria Los, vice chairman and head of client consulting for the Americas. After the sale, it received warm applause.
Danaid, A 1913 bronze head was estimated at auction at $100 million upon request, well above the artist’s current auction record. 2021, Polished Bronze and Marble Sculpture sophistry girl (Portrait of Nancy Cunard)dating from 1928/32, sold at Christie’s New York in 2018 for $71.2 million. Brancusi’s next three works sold at auction for $57.3 million Nedom goddessan antique bronze with gold leaf sculptures, sold at Christie’s New York in 2017; oak sculpture valued at $29.2 million Mrs. LR (Portrait of Mrs. LR) 2009 at Christie’s Paris; $27.5 million for marble and stone sculptures bird in space At Christie’s New York in 2005.
Danaid Based on Greek mythology, according to Christie’s, King Danaos’ brother asked the king’s 50 daughters to be wives for his sons. “By order of the King, the Danaids (except one of them) killed their husbands on their wedding night. As punishment, they were banished to Hell and sentenced to fill jars with water from which they would soon leak.” Auguste Rodin, who was around the same time as Brancusi, as well as other artists, also inherited this myth.
The Brancusi sculpture that just sold references Egyptian sculpture and East Asian statues, with gold leaf and black patina. The work resulted in six bronze casts, four of which are in institutional collections: the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Tate Gallery in London and the Kunstmuseum Winterthur in Switzerland. According to Christie’s auction house, it is the only gilded work of art still in private hands.
In addition to its gilding, the sculpture is highly sought after because of its provenance. Prior to Newhouse, the painting was originally purchased by Eugene and Agnes Meyer at Brâncuşi’s first solo exhibition at Alfred Stieglitz 291 Gallery in New York in 1914. It was passed to his daughter, who sold it to Newhouse in 2002 for $18.2 million, a record sale for a sculpture at the time.
Christie’s clearly has high hopes for the sale, hiring actress Nicole Kidman to shoot a two-minute ad produced by Studio 11F, in which she walks into Christie’s New York headquarters to admire the work in private.
