Art Market Collapse?
Patrick Boyle On Finance
Patrick Boyle
4.9 • 308 Ratings
🗓️ 2 June 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why did the star lot of the spring season, a bronze head by the master sculptor Alberto Giacometti, fail to sell at Sotheby’s?Alberto Giacometti’s 1955 bust, “Grande tête mince" (“Big Thin Head”), carried a pre-sale estimate of $70 million in Sotheby’s Modern evening auction. The auctioneer started the bidding at $59 million dollars. But no one bid - the piece went unsold. It was the second high-profile lot to disappoint in two days. Andy Warhol’s “Big Electric Chair” (1967-68) was withdrawn from Christie’s 20th century evening auction the day before. Is the fine art market in trouble?Patrick's Books:Statistics For The Trading Floor: https://amzn.to/3eerLA0Derivatives For The Trading Floor: https://amzn.to/3cjsyPFCorporate Finance: https://amzn.to/3fn3rvC Ways To Support The ChannelPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/PatrickBoyleOnFinanceBuy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/patrickboyleVisit our website: https://www.onfinance.orgFollow Patrick on Twitter Here: https://bsky.app/profile/pboyle.bsky.social
Transcript
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| 0:23.6 | At New York's annual spring auction week, the world's biggest auction houses like Christy's |
| 0:28.8 | Sotheby's and Phillips hold some of the most important art auctions of the year, |
| 0:34.1 | showcasing a wide range of art including Impressionist modern and contemporary works, attracting |
| 0:40.7 | collectors and buyers from around the world. |
| 0:44.0 | On display are iconic works by legendary artists like Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Roy Lichtenstein |
| 0:50.7 | and Mark Rothko, each piece representing a distinct era and movement in art history. |
| 0:57.1 | The works on sale at the three major auction houses came in this year with an estimated |
| 1:02.7 | price range of between $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion. |
| 1:08.3 | The crown jewel of the season was being sold at Sotheby's, a sculptor by |
| 1:13.3 | Alberto Giacometti, titled Grand Tet Mons, or Large Thin Head, which Sotheby's |
| 1:19.7 | described as being Giacometti's masterpiece. The sculpture was conceived in 1954 and cast in |
| 1:27.1 | 1955 in an addition of six. |
| 1:30.3 | The one on sale was the only one painted by Giacometti, making it the most special of the series, and entirely unique. |
| 1:39.3 | An unpainted cast was sold in 2010 by Christie's for $53 million, so this one was expected |
| 1:47.5 | to go for at least $70 million. |
| 1:50.7 | It was described in the catalogue as a uniquely painted bust of the artist's younger brother |
| 1:56.7 | Diego, who was Giacometti's lifelong companion. Now, I don't have a younger brother, |
| 2:03.0 | but I imagine that if I did and I had the free time, I'd make something like this too |
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