Giacometti figurine. The most expensive sculpture in the world

At all times, art was valued, but did not always bear fruit. Many currently famous sculptors, artists, musicians were not in demand during their lives. But on modern stage, art is valued very highly, both aesthetically and financially. The art of sculpture reached an incredible apogee in modern society. The work of sculptors is incredibly hard and beautiful, and many rich people are willing to pay exorbitant prices to become the owner of one of the world-famous sculptures.

The most popular sculptures in the world

"The Walking Man" by Alberto Giacometti. The sculpture cost $104.3 million and was created in 1961. This sculpture is one of the most recognizable sculptures in the world of the 20th century.
"For the Love of God" by Damien Hirst. The cost of the sculpture is 100 million dollars, created in 2007. It is a platinum human skull inlaid with a huge number of diamonds.
"Head", author Amedeo Modigliani, the cost of the sculpture is 59.5 million dollars, created in 1910-1912. This work of art is kept in Egyptian Museum Britain and is an elongated head with almond-shaped eyes.
"The dog from balloons", by Jeff Koons. The cost of the sculpture was 58 million dollars. This is a work of art huge dog made from “balloons”.

"The Lioness of Guennola", author unknown. The cost of the sculpture was 57.16 million dollars. The height of the figurine is only 8 centimeters, presented in the form of a lioness irregular shape. All funds that the owner-seller received for them were sent to a special charitable foundation. All that is known about it is the place of manufacture - Mesopotamia.
"Diego's Big Head" by Alberto Giacometti. The sculpture is made of bronze and represents a long, elongated face, created after the model of the author’s younger and most beloved brother, Diego.
"Nude female figure from the back 4”, by Henri Matisse. The cost of the sculpture was 48.8 million dollars. This sculpture is part of the series “Standing with its back to the viewer” and became greatest creation modernist sculpture of the 20th century. Represents this work art bronze bas-relief.

In 2015, at one of the auctions held in New York, the sculpture “Pointing Man” by Alberto Giacometti was exhibited. It sold overnight for $141.3 million, earning it the title of "The Most Expensive Sculpture in the World." This work of art was created back in 1947, the height of the sculpture was 180 centimeters, and it was estimated at 130 million dollars.

Interesting Facts:

The most expensive sculpture in the world was created by the Swiss sculptor, painter and graphic artist Alberto Giacometti, who was one of greatest masters twentieth century.
All works of this author can be attributed to the style of “French avant-garde of the 20th century”. All the people portrayed by Alberto Giacometti are characterized by lonely individuals who mean nothing. This is a person who is in constant search your inner self.
The record was set at Christie's auction in New York, where this sculpture went under the hammer for $141.3 million in 2015. The theme of the auction was “Forward to the Past.”

The Pointing Man was hand-painted by Alberto Giacometti, making the sculpture absolutely unique and adding to its value.
Before the appearance of the Pointing Man, the most expensive sculpture in the world was considered the Walking Man, made by the same author a little later, in 1967, and sold for $104 million.
"Pointing Man" is one of six similar sculptures of the same theme created by Alberto Giacometti.
This sculpture has become the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction worldwide. “Pointing Man” was the author’s first own exhibition in 15 years. He prepared for it very much, and in just a few hours, working at night, Giacometti created a work of art, which in the future received the status of the most expensive sculpture in the world.
The sculpture was created in 1947, its height is 180 centimeters, and the material used is pure bronze.
Before The Pointing Man sold for the most a large amount, she was in private collection Pierre Matisse, son famous artist Henri Mathias.
All sculptures by Alberto Giacometti are the most expensive. And the author himself has been among the top ten most expensive sculptors in the world since 2002.

Beginning in 2010, Giacometti's works began to be valued according to the cost and value of Picasso himself.
The author suffered from epilepsy, which is why his peculiar perception can be explained by an epileptic distortion of reality. The constant feeling of one's own fragility, human disproportion, understanding of the unexpectedness of death - all this influenced the artistic style of Alberto Giacometti.
The tall, thin body of the “Pointing Man”, his thin and long arms - express loneliness, the fragility of the human body in outer space, vulnerability and defenselessness. In other words, this sculpture, like others from this series, characterize the isolation of the individual, the importance not of the outer shell, but of the search for one’s inner “I”.
The name of the buyer who decided to pay $141.3 million for the Pointing Man sculpture has not been disclosed and is still unknown.

Alberto Giacometti passed away in 1966, leaving behind world heritage avant-garde sculpture of the 20th century, for the possession of which many art connoisseurs from all over the world are fighting, and are ready to pay huge amounts of money for them.

On May 12, 2015, at Christie's New York auction, another price record was broken: the sculpture "Pointing Man" by Alberto Giacometti was sold for $141.3 million. This is almost $40 million more than the previous top lot - another work by the Swiss master, "Walking Man I" " Learn more about which sculptors’ works are popular at auctions and how much collectors are willing to pay for them

"Pointing Man", 1947

"Pointing Man" is the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction. This is one of six similar bronze statues by Giacometti created in 1947. The sculpture, which went under the hammer at Christie’s, has been kept in a private collection for the last 45 years. Its previous owner bought the work in 1970 from American collectors Fred and Florence Olsen. They, in turn, purchased the masterpiece in 1953 from the son of the famous French artist Henri Matisse Pierre. The rest of the “pointing” sculptures are kept in museums around the world, including the New York MoMA and the London Tate gallery, as well as in private collections.

The lot sold at Christie’s differs from others in that Giacometti painted it by hand. The sculptor created the statue in a few hours - between midnight and nine in the morning, he told his biographer. The Swiss master was preparing for his first personal exhibition in New York in 15 years. “I had already made a plaster cast, but I destroyed it and created it again and again because the foundry workers had to pick it up in the morning. When they got the cast, the plaster was still wet,” he recalled.

Giacometti's works are considered among the most expensive on the modern art market. On the eve of the auction, experts estimated the cost of “Pointing Man” at $130 million - higher than the cost of the previous record holder, “Walking Man I” by the same author. The name of the buyer who paid $141.3 million for the sculpture has not been disclosed.

"Walking Man I", 1961

"Walking Man I" is considered one of the most recognizable sculptures of the 20th century. The work, along with a portrait of its author, is even depicted on the 100 Swiss francs banknote. In 2010, it appeared at auction for the first time in twenty years - the lot was put up by the German Dresdner Bank AG, which acquired the masterpiece for a corporate collection, but after the takeover of Commerzbank got rid of the art objects. The sellers promised to donate the proceeds from “Walking Man I” to charity.

The sculpture caused a real stir. At least ten candidates competed for her in the hall, but the most high price ended up being offered by an anonymous buyer over the phone. The bidding lasted eight minutes, during which time the starting price of the lot rose five times (and together with commissions - almost six).

Experts from The Wall Street Journal suggested that the anonymous buyer was Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who two years earlier bought a bronze statue of a woman created by Giacometti in 1956. However, Bloomberg later found out that the owner of the statue was Lily Safra, the widow of Brazilian banker Edmond Safra.

“For the love of the Lord”, 2007

The sculpture, made by the famous British artist Damien Hirst from 2 kg of platinum, is a slightly reduced copy of the skull of a 35-year-old European of the 18th century. The diamond slots (8,601 in total) are laser cut, the jaw is made of platinum, and the teeth are real. The skull is crowned with a pink diamond weighing 52.4 carats. The work cost the British artist, famous for his controversial installations using animal corpses in formaldehyde, £14 million.

Hirst claimed that the name of the sculpture was inspired by the words of his mother when she approached him with a question: For the love of God, what are you going to do next? (“For God’s sake, what are you doing now?”). For the love of God is a verbatim quote from the First Epistle of John.

In 2007, the skull was exhibited at the White Cube gallery, and the same year it was sold for $100 million (£50 million). Bloomberg and The Washington Post wrote that the group of investors included Damien Hirst himself, as well as Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk. A representative of the White Cube gallery did not comment on the rumors, but reported that the buyers intend to subsequently resell Hirst's work.

"Head", 1910-1912

Collectors bargained over the phone for the work of Amedeo Modigliani, and in the end the sculpture went under the hammer for $59.5 million, which was ten times higher than the starting price. The name of the buyer was not disclosed, but it is known that he is from Italy.

Modigliani did not study sculpture for long - from 1909 to 1913, when the artist returned to painting again, including due to tuberculosis. The “Head,” sold at Christie’s, is part of a collection of seven sculptures, “Pillars of Tenderness,” which the author exhibited in 1911 in the studio of the Portuguese artist Amadeo de Sousa-Cordoso. All works are distinguished by a pronounced oval head, almond-shaped eyes, a long, thin nose, a small mouth and an elongated neck. Experts also draw analogies between Modigliani’s sculpture and the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, which is kept in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.

"Balloon Dog (Orange)", 1994-2000

The stainless steel dog came to auction from the collection of businessman Peter Brant, having previously been in the Museum contemporary art(MoMA) in New York, on the Grand Canal in Venice and at the Palace of Versailles. The pre-sale estimate of the lot, three meters high and weighing a ton, was $55 million. The orange dog is the first of five “air” dogs created American artist. The remaining four sculptures also went to collections, but were sold at a lower price.

Commercial success came to Koons, a former Wall Street broker, in 2007. Then his giant metal installation " Hanging heart"was sold at Sotheby's for $23.6 million. In next year huge purple "Flower of balloon“went to Christie’s for $25.8 million. In 2012, the sculpture “Tulips” was sold at Christie’s for $33.7 million.

"Lioness of Guennola", circa 3000–2800 BC. e.

Created in Ancient Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago, the limestone figurine was found in 1931 in Iraq, near Baghdad. There are two holes preserved in the lioness's head for a cord or chain: it was intended to be worn around the neck. Since 1948, the work belonged to the famous American collector Alistair Bradley Martin and was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. When announcing the decision to sell the sculpture, Martin promised to use the proceeds for charity.

The antique "Lioness" set a record price for sculptures in 2007 at New York's Sotheby's, displacing Picasso's bronze "Head of a Woman" from first place, which sold less than a month earlier for $29.1 million. The final price for the sculpture exceeded the initial price by more than three times. Five buyers took part in the competition for the figurine; the winner of the auction wished to remain anonymous.

"Diego's Big Head", 1954

The bronze sculpture depicts Alberto Giacometti's younger brother Diego, who was the Swiss master's favorite model. There are several “Heads”; the last of the series was sold at Sotheby’s in 2013 for $50 million. “Diego’s Big Head” was cast for installation on a street square in New York; work on it was suspended due to the death of the author. The estimate for the sculpture that went under the hammer at Christie’s was $25-35 million.

Giacometti is in the top 10 most dear artists world since 2002, after the sale of several works by the artist at Christie’s. The most expensive figurine sold then was the third of eight copies of the “Cage” sculpture - it was valued at $1.5 million. However, 2010 became a landmark year for the artist, when Giacometti’s works began to be valued at the same level as Picasso’s paintings.

“Nude female figure from the back IV”, 1958

Experts call the bronze bas-relief “Nude Female Figure from the Back IV” the most striking of the four works in the series “Standing with her back to the viewer,” and the entire series as the greatest creation of modernist sculpture of the 20th century.

Until 2010, none of the sculptures from this cycle were put up for auction, although the bas-relief sold at Christie’s is not the only one: a plaster cast for each series was cast in 12 copies at once. The height of one figure is 183 cm, weight - more than 270 kg. Now complete series of “Standing with Your Back to the Viewer” are kept in nine leading museums in the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London and the Pompidou Center in Paris. There were only two copies left in private collections, one of which was auctioned.

"Female Nude from the Back IV" was originally estimated at $25-35 million, and the amount paid for it was a record for a Matisse work ever sold at auction.

"Madame L.R.", 1914-1917

Legendary sculptor Romanian origin gained worldwide fame in Paris, where he lived for 35 years. His work had a great influence on the development modern sculpture, Brancusi has been called the founder of sculptural abstraction. The Pompidou Center has had a separate “Brancusi Room” since its inception.

Wooden figurine of Madame L.R. was created by Brancusi in 1914-1917. This is one of his most famous works. It is believed that "Madame L.R." conveys the traditional style of Carpathian carving and the influence of African art on the author’s work. The sculpture was sold in 2009 at Christie's as part of the art collection of French couturier Yves Saint Laurent.

"Tulips", 1995-2004

“The numbers on the price tag sometimes seem astronomical to me. But people pay such sums because they dream of joining the art process. Their right,” Jeff Koons reasoned in a conversation with Interview magazine after his “Tulips” were sold for $33.7 million. Koons is called the most successful American artist after Warhol.

“Tulips” are one of the most complex and large sculptures from the Holiday series (in apparent weightlessness, they weigh more than three tons). This is a bouquet of seven intertwined “balloon” flowers, made of stainless steel and coated with translucent paint.

The sculpture, which according to the author’s intention reveals the concept of childhood innocence, was bought in 2012 by one of the most extravagant heroes of Las Vegas, casino owner and billionaire Steve Wynn. He decided to showcase this acquisition at Wynn Las Vegas: the businessman adheres to the idea of “public art” and often displays items from his collection at the resorts he owns.

On May 12, 2015, another price record was broken at Christie's New York auction: the sculpture "Pointing Man" by Alberto Giacometti was sold for $141.3 million. This is almost $40 million more than the previous top lot - another work by the Swiss master, "The Walking Man" I". In this selection, compiled by one of the most authoritative publications, Forbes, you can see which sculptures are currently in demand and how much money collectors are willing to pay for them. Attention! Some sculptures may shake your sense of beauty.

"Pointing Man", 1947

"Pointing Man" is the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction. This is one of six similar bronze statues by Giacometti created in 1947. The sculpture, which went under the hammer at Christie’s, has been kept in a private collection for the last 45 years. Its previous owner bought the work in 1970 from American collectors Fred and Florence Olsen. They, in turn, purchased the masterpiece in 1953 from the son of the famous French artist Henri Matisse Pierre. The rest of the “pointing” sculptures are kept in museums around the world, including New York’s MoMA and London gallery Tate, and also in private collections.

"Walking Man I", 1961

The sculpture caused a real stir. At least ten contenders competed for it in the hall, but the highest price was eventually offered by an anonymous buyer over the phone. The bidding lasted eight minutes, during which time the starting price of the lot rose five times (and together with commissions - almost six).

“For the love of the Lord”, 2007

Hirst claimed that the name of the sculpture was inspired by the words of his mother when she asked him: For the love of God, what are you going to do next? (“For God’s sake, what are you doing now?”). For the love of God is a verbatim quote from the First Epistle of John.

"Head", 1910-1912

"Balloon Dog (Orange)", 1994-2000

The stainless steel dog came to auction from the collection of businessman Peter Brant, having previously visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Grand Canal in Venice and the Palace of Versailles. The pre-sale estimate for the lot, three meters high and weighing a ton, was $55 million. The orange dog is the first of five “airy” dogs created by the American artist. The remaining four sculptures also went to collections, but were sold at a lower price.

Commercial success came to Koons, a former Wall Street broker, in 2007. Then his giant metal installation “Hanging Heart” was sold at Sotheby’s for $23.6 million. The following year, the huge purple “Balloon Flower” went to Christie’s for $25.8 million. In 2012, the sculpture “Tulips” was sold at Christie's for $33.7 million.

"Lioness of Guennola", circa 3000–2800 BC. e.

"Diego's Big Head", 1954

Giacometti has been included in the top 10 most expensive artists in the world since 2002, after the sale of several works by the artist at Christie’s. The most expensive figurine sold then was the third of eight copies of the “Cage” sculpture - it was valued at $1.5 million. However, 2010 became a landmark year for the artist, when Giacometti’s works began to be valued at the same level as Picasso’s paintings.

“Nude female figure from the back IV”, 1958

"Female Nude from the Back IV" was originally estimated at $25-35 million, and the amount paid for it was a record for a Matisse work ever sold at auction.

"Madame L.R.", 1914-1917

The legendary sculptor of Romanian origin gained worldwide fame in Paris, where he lived for 35 years. His work had a great influence on the development of modern sculpture; Brancusi was called the founder of sculptural abstraction. The Pompidou Center has had a separate “Brancusi Room” since its inception.

"Tulips", 1995-2004

The art of sculpture in our time has probably reached its apogee, at least as regards the price and demand for the works of masters. May 12, 2015 at Christie's auction (the largest in the world after Sotheby's auction house) in New York, another price record was broken: the rather controversial sculpture “Man Pointing” by Alberto Giacometti was sold for an incredible amount of $141.3 million! This is almost 40 million more than the previous top lot - another work by this Swiss master, “Walking Man I”.

Sculpture "Pointing Man", 1947

Height: 180 cm

Price: $141.3 million

Place, time of sale: Christie's, May 2015

"Pointing Man" is the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction. This is one of six similar bronze statues by Giacometti created in 1947. The sculpture, which went under the hammer at Christie's, has been kept in a private collection for the last 45 years. Its former owner bought the work from American collectors Fred and Florence Olsen in 1970. They, in turn, purchased the masterpiece in 1953 from the son of the famous French artist Henri Matisse Pierre. The remaining "pointing" sculptures are kept in museums around the world, including New York's MoMA and London's Tate Gallery, as well as in private collections.

The lot sold at Christie's differs from others in that Giacometti painted it by hand. The sculptor created the statue in a few hours - between midnight and nine in the morning, he told his biographer. The Swiss master was preparing for his first exhibition in New York in 15 years. “I had already made a plaster cast, but I destroyed it and created it again and again because the foundry workers had to pick it up in the morning. When they got the cast, the plaster was still wet,” he recalled.

The sculptor began depicting thin, highly elongated figures of people, symbolizing loneliness and the precariousness of existence, after the Second World War, during which Giacometti was forced to move from France to Switzerland and settle in Geneva. Giacometti's works are considered among the most expensive on the modern art market. On the eve of the auction, experts estimated the cost of "Pointing Man" at $130 million - higher than the cost of the previous record holder, "Walking Man I" by the same author. The name of the buyer who paid $141.3 million for the sculpture has not been disclosed.

Sculpture "Walking Man I", 1961

Height: 183 cm

Price: $104.3 million

Place, time: Sotheby's, February 2010

Sculpture "For the Love of the Lord", 2007

Dimensions: 17.1 x 12.7 x 19.1 cm

Price: $100 million

Place, time: 2007

Hirst claimed that the name of the sculpture was inspired by the words of his mother when she asked him: For the love of God, what are you going to do next? ("For God's sake, what are you doing now?"). For the love of God is a verbatim quote from the First Epistle of John.

Sculpture "Head", 1910-1912

Height: 65 cm

Price: $59.5 million

Place, time: Christie's, June 2010

Modigliani did not study sculpture for long - from 1909 to 1913, when the artist returned to painting again, including due to tuberculosis. "Head", sold at Christie's, is part of a collection of seven sculptures "Pillars of Tenderness", which the author exhibited in 1911 in the studio of the Portuguese artist Amadeo de Souza-Cordoso. All works are distinguished by a pronounced oval head, almond-shaped eyes, long, thin nose, small mouth and elongated neck. Experts also draw analogies between Modigliani's sculpture and the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, which is kept in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.

Sculpture "Balloon Dog (orange)", 1994-2000

Dimensions: 307.3 x 363.2 x 114.3 cm

Price: $58 million

Place, time: Christie's, November 2013

Sculpture of the Lioness of Guennol, circa 3000-2800 BC.

Height: 8.26 cm

Price: $57.1 million

Place, time: Sotheby's, January 2007

The antique "Lioness" set a record price for sculptures in 2007 at Sotheby's in New York, displacing Picasso's bronze "Head of a Woman" from first place, which was sold less than a month earlier for $29.1 million. The final price for the sculpture exceeded the initial price more than three times. Five buyers took part in the competition for the figurine; the winner of the auction wished to remain anonymous.

Sculpture "Diego's Big Head", 1954

Height: 65 cm

Price: $53.3 million

Place, time: Christie's, May 2010

The bronze sculpture depicts Alberto Giacometti's younger brother Diego, who was the Swiss master's favorite model. There are several “Heads”; the last of the series was sold at Sotheby’s in 2013 for $50 million. “Diego’s Big Head” was cast for installation on a street square in New York; due to the death of the author, work on it was suspended. Estimate of the sculpture , which went under the hammer at Christie's, was $25-35 million.

Giacometti has been in the top 10 most expensive artists in the world since 2002, after selling several of the artist’s works at Christie’s. The most expensive figurine sold then was the third of eight copies of the “Cage” sculpture - it was valued at $1.5 million. However, 2010 became a landmark year for the artist, when Giacometti’s works began to be valued at the level of Picasso’s paintings.

Sculpture "Nude female figure from the back IV", 1958

Height: 183 cm

Price: $48.8 million

Place, time: Christie's, November 2010

Experts call the bronze bas-relief "Nude Female Figure from the Back IV" the most striking of the four works in the series "Standing with her back to the viewer", and the entire series - the greatest creation of modernist sculpture of the 20th century.

Until 2010, none of the sculptures from this cycle were put up for auction, although the bas-relief sold at Christie's is not the only one: a plaster cast for each series was cast in 12 copies at once. The height of one figure is 183 cm, weight - more than 270 kg Now the complete series of “Standing with His Back to the Viewer” are kept in nine leading museums in the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London and the Pompidou Center in Paris. Only two copies remained in private collections. of which was sold under the hammer.

"Female Nude from the Back IV" was originally estimated at $25-35 million, and the amount paid for it was a record for a Matisse work ever sold at auction.

Sculpture "Madame L.R.", 1914-1917

Price: $37.2 million

Place, time: Christie's, February 2009

Sculpture "Tulips", 1995-2004

Price: $33.7 million

Place, time: Christie's, November 2012

“The numbers on the price tag sometimes seem astronomical to me. But people pay such sums because they dream of joining the art process. Their right,” Jeff Koons reasoned in an interview with Interview magazine after his “Tulips” were sold for $33. 7 million Koons is called the most successful American artist after Warhol.

The sculpture, which according to the author’s intention reveals the concept of childhood innocence, was bought in 2012 by one of the most extravagant heroes of Las Vegas, casino owner and billionaire Steve Wynn. He decided to showcase this acquisition at Wynn Las Vegas: the businessman adheres to the idea of "public art" and often displays items from his collection at the resorts he owns.

forbes.ru

The fantastic record set at Sotheby's auction on December 5, 2007 - $57 million for an eight-centimeter figurine made of polished limestone, requires some explanation. Where did this miracle come from, is it a fake, does the "Lioness of Guennol" have analogues? And why is it is it so expensive?

"The Lioness of Guennola" adorned the showcase of the Brooklyn Museum of Fine Arts, which represents one of the best art collections in the United States, for almost 60 years. This small sculpture has been reproduced many times in art history textbooks, placed next to such masterpieces as the marble head of a woman from Uruk and the goat figurine from Ur.

The lioness's history is murky: it is believed that she was found in 1931 in the vicinity of Baghdad and sold to an American collector. Who found it and under what circumstances is unknown. In 1931, the figurine ended up in the collection of antique dealer and gallery owner Joseph Brummel, a student of Auguste Rodin and a great connoisseur of ancient and medieval sculpture. Brummel has advised many collectors, notably Bradley Martin. Alistair Bradley Martin, his son, was also famous collector. Alistair Bradley and his wife Edith Park Martin bought the lioness from Brummel in 1948 and gave it as a long-term loan to the Brooklyn Museum of Fine Arts. The figurine never left the United States, but about once every ten years its owners lent it for exhibition to such respected collections as the Fogg Museum at Harvard and the Metropolitan in New York, so there was no shortage of researchers for the lioness. The name "Guennol" was assigned to the sculpture after the name of the Martin collection (guennol - swallow in Welsh).

Despite its modest size, the figurine makes an impression monumental work. The massive lion's head lies on a muscular shoulder, the arms-paws are clenched under the chest, while the torso is turned 90 degrees relative to the head and legs-paws. The very impossibility and extreme tension of the pose attracts the viewer. The figurine can and should be viewed from all sides. Probably in ancient times the lioness had a tail (holes for fastening are visible at the back). There is an assumption that the lower part of the paws was made of a different material. The holes on the head were most likely intended for a cord on which the figurine was hung to be worn around the neck.

The master who made the lioness, apparently, lived on the territory of modern Iran, where the state of Elam existed in ancient times (approximately 2700-600 BC). The lioness was sculptured in the proto-Elamite era - around 3000-2800 BC. She has about a dozen closest “relatives”. Firstly, this is a figurine of a bull from Uruk (Mesopotamia), dating back to the turn of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. Secondly, a small group of proto-Elamite seals, which depicted standing on hind legs the animals are most likely lions. They all have their paws folded over their chests. Thirdly, a treasure of small sculptures was found by French archaeologists in Susa (one of the capitals of Elam): one of the figurines depicts a griffin-lion, stylistically the sculpture is designed quite close to the “Lioness of Guennol”. Fourth, two Proto-Elamite silver sculptures: a reclining mountain goat and a kneeling bull with a vessel. However, familiarity with these objects cannot prepare the viewer for the extraordinary nature of The Lioness of Guennol. There are no analogues to this work of art, at least not yet. Perhaps one of the archaeologists of the future will be lucky.

As far as can be judged, the lioness has never been dated by physical methods: the figurine is too small for a piece to be sawed off without damage. All conclusions regarding its origin are made on the basis of analogies. In principle, this could scare off cautious buyers, but the reputation of the item from the Martin collection is considered impeccable. The new owner of the figurine, judging by a report from Bloomberg, was present at the Sotheby's auction in person. He introduced himself as an archaeologist, but did not give any more details about himself. Who is this mysterious scientist who laid out an amount three times higher than the auctioneers' estimate - 57 million versus 18 -20, the same mystery as the circumstances of the discovery of the lioness. Further fate"The Lionesses of Guennol" is not yet known, and for the audience the statuette is, at least for a while, lost.