GIACOMETTI'S LIFE-SIZED SCULPTURE L'HOMME QUI MARCHE I (WALKING MAN I) FETCHED £65,001,250/$104,327,006 AFTER JUST EIGHT MINUTES OF BIDDING AT SOTHEBY'S. THE WINNING BID, WHICH OPENED AT £12 MILLION, WAS MADE OVER THE PHONE BY AN ANONYMOUS BIDDER. THE SCULPTURE, CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BY THE 20th CENTURY SWISS ARTIST, WAS ESTIMATED TO SELL FOR BETWEEN £12 MILLION TO £18 MILLION. FURIOUS BIDDING SAW MORE THAN TEN RIVALS ESCALATE THE PRICE, EVENTUALLY HITTING THE £65 MILLION MARK. A SOTHEBY'S SPOKESPERSON SAID IT WAS THE HIGHEST FOR ANY WORK OF ART EVER SOLD AT AN AUCTION. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS A PICASSO PAINTING, 'BOY WITH A PIPE', WHICH WAS HIS HAUNTING ROSE PERIOD PORTRAIT OF A YOUNGSTER CALLED 'LITTLE LOUIS', WHO USED TO HANG AROUND HIS STUDIO IN PARIS, WHICH SOLD FOR A STAGGERING £58.5 MILLION/$104 MILLION IN 2004. A SPOKESPERSON FOR SOTHEBY'S SAID: 'THE COMPETITION WHICH GENERATED THESE EXCEPTIONAL RESULTS DEMONSTRATES THE CONTINUED QUEST FOR QUALITY THAT COMPELS TODAY'S COLLECTORS'. IN AN AMAZING NIGHT FOR SOTHEBY'S, ONE OF THE OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART SALE ALSO EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS. GUSTAV KLIMT'S 'KIRCHE IN CASSONE' WENT FOR £26,921,250, FAR ABOVE THE £12 MILLION TO £18 MILLION ESTIMATE. IT PROVED TO BE A RECORD PRICE FOR A KLIMT LANDSCAPE AND THE SECOND HIGHEST AUCTION BID FOR ANY WORK BY THE AUSTRIAN PAINTER.
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