Paintings are often highly sought after due to their broad appeal and identifiability. They’re relatively easy to transport and widely available in a variety of price levels. Sculptures, on the other hand, have a tendency to fetch much higher prices initially, due primarily to the workload involved in their creation and the significantly higher price of materials. Gold, bronze and marble are much more difficult to obtain, transport and work with than the materials favored by the world’s painters. The heyday of creative sculpting existed in the Greek and Roman empires, and then as now served primarily religious and memorial functions. These works are seldom traded on the open market due to the grip with which museums and religious institutions hold them.
Pable Picasso’s most expensive sculpture is an abstract representation of French photographer, painter and poet Dora Maar, whose relationship with Picasso lasted from 1936 to 1943. Created in 1941, the bust is 31.5 inches tall and cast in bronze. It achieved its record-breaking price at a Sotheby’s auction in 2007.
Brancusi was a member of the modernist art movement, which took a marked turn from the styles and fields of study of its predecessors. Favoring minimalism to representation, his pieces, while often pleasing to look at, serve more a conceptual purpose then a literary or narrative one. A student of the literal and highly lauded Auguste Rodin, Brancusi’s pieces lack the emotional content one often searches for in works of art. Madame L.R. was sculpted circa 1914-1917 and was sold at Christie’s auction of the Yves Saint Laurent collection of Art in 2009.
This Mesopotamian statue of an anthropomorphic lion is 5,000 years old and likely depicts an Elamite deity or other venerated figure. It was discovered near present-day Baghdad in the early 1800s by Sir Leonard Woolley. It was most recently sold in a Sotheby’s auction in late 2007 and was, for a short time, the most expensive sculpture ever sold. It was carved from limestone and stands just over 3 inches tall.
The most modern sculpture on this list, “For the love of God” was created in 2007. The work was inspired by an Aztec turquoise skull and was based on a European skull thought to be at least 200 years old. It’s cast from platinum and covered in 8,601 pavé-set diamonds totaling 1,106.18 carats. The teeth came from the original skull. “For the love of God” was sold in mid-2007 and is the most expensive work by a living artist.
Alberto Giacometti – “L’Homme qui marche I” (“Walking Man 1”) – $104.3 million
This piece is considered to be the culmination of the Swiss sculptor’s work, which started small and gradually became taller and thinner. This 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture was sold in February 2010 and became not just the most expensive sculpture ever sold but the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction.
This piece is considered to be the culmination of the Swiss sculptor’s work, which started small and gradually became taller and thinner. This 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture was sold in February 2010 and became not just the most expensive sculpture ever sold but the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction.
