Bourgeois' 'Spider' Auctions Underwhelmingly for $30 Million
The expectation was that the work would be sold for $ 40 million, but the economic situation in the USA affected the sale, says specialist
The first "Spider" by Louise Bourgeois already has a new owner.
The sculpture, which became famous for spending decades on display at the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo, MAM, was auctioned this Thursday night (18) for US$ 30 million at Sotheby's in New York. The amount was below expectations.
Owner of Bolsa de Arte, the largest auction house in Brazil, Jones Bergamin says that, if it weren't for the imminence of an economic crisis in the USA, which imposes high-interest rates on art collectors, the work would have sold for at least US$ 40 million.
Proof of this, says Bergamin, is that eight years ago another piece from the same collection was sold for the same amount and, four years ago, for US$ 32 million.
As it is customary, the identity of the buyer was not revealed, but Bergamin bets that, if the person is an art dealer, the work should not take long to be auctioned again.
Translated by Cassy Dias