Giacometti Breaks Sales Record at Auction

On February 3, the sculpture entitled L¿Homme Qui Marche I (The Walking Man I) by Swiss artist and sculptor Alberto Giacometti was sold by Sotheby¿s auction house in London for 75.5 million Euros (approximately 102.68 million U.S. dollars) and set a new record for a work of art sold at an auction. L¿Homme Qui Marche I belongs to Giacometti¿s mature period. The sculpture was created to be part of a public project entrusted to Giacometti for a square in New York City's financial district. For this project, the Swiss artist created several sculptures, and only two still exist today: L'Homme Qui Marche I and L'Homme Qui Marche II. This is the first time in 20 years that a large-format Walking Man sculpture by Giacometti had been auctioned. On November 9, 2009, at Sotheby's New York, another work by Giacometti entitled L'Homme Qui Chavire (The Falling Man) was sold for 19.3 million dollars (13.2 million Euros), well surpassing the selling price that had been estimated at between 8 and 12 million dollars. The sculpture belonged to the Dresdner Bank AG Collection before becoming part of the Commerzbank AG, after the latter purchased the Dresdner Bank in 2009. Commerzbank plans to use the profits from the sale to reinforce its new Foundation Centre, as well as to allocate funds to museums for restoration of works and educational programs.