«I LIKE MONEY ON THE WALL»

A landscape by J.M.W. Turner, once owned by a member of the Rothschild family, sold last night for an artist record 29.7 million pounds ($45.1 million) as selective buyers continued to test the art market. Turner’s work, on offer for the first time since it was purchased in 1878 by Hannah Rothschild and her husband, was the top lot of 57 in a Sotheby’s London auction of Old Master and British Paintings. The price is the latest record paid in 2010 for trophy works by top artists with prestigious provenances. Alberto Giacometti’s 1961 bronze “Walking Man I” sold for 65 million pounds at Sotheby’s. Pablo Picasso’s 1932 painting “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” fetched $106.5 million -- the most for any artwork at auction -- at Christie’s International in New York in May. An Amedeo Modigliani sculpture took 43.2 million euros ($53 million) at Christie’s in Paris in June.

Bloomberg
July 7 2010