Why does a Botticelli painting cost $92.2 million? The secret of art marketing
Masterpieces by significant Renaissance masters rarely appear on the art market. Among the reasons are the progressive increase in the number of potential buyers who need new acquisitions to confirm their status and as a reliable asset, the nationalization and donation of private collections to museums (“washing out” the art market) and the relatively small number of paintings. The Status Symbol magazine lifts the curtain on the art market of Western European art.
Another market record was the sale at Sotheby's auction in New York portrait of an unknown young man with a medallion brushes by Sandro Botticelli for $92.184. According to insider information, the painting was acquired through the Russian department of London Sotheby's (director Liliya Sitnika) and, apparently, by a Russian-speaking collector. Selling the painting for $000 million took 92.2 minutes.
Genuine masterpieces always increase in price
The previous owner of the painting paid $1.3 million for it in 1982, which, even taking into account inflation, is several times less than the current value. Why? There are not so many genuine masterpieces like pearls on the art market. Collectors, art dealers and gallery owners have been collecting the best works like gold for years and are in no hurry to part with them. Large auction houses - Christie's and Sotheby's - have information about the best collections and compete for the right to represent the interests of collectors in selling collections publicly at auctions or through private sales.
How does art get to market? There are three paths in the art business (three D) – debts, death, divorce (debts, death and divorce). TheStatusSymbol.com sincerely hopes that the first and last D will not affect our readers, but you can’t run away from death. Therefore, knowing that descendants will still sell the collection or because of tax vicissitudes, the collector at a certain point in his life decides to sell his collection in full or in part. Even in this case, not everyone is ready to part with the pearls of their collections. The previous owner of this Botticelli painting passed away in November 2020.
Another masterpiece of the old masters "Savior of the World" Leonardo da Vinci, whose marketing is discussed in a separate article, cost $2013 million in 127.5, and in 2017 - already $450 million at Christie's auction in New York.
Recognition, quality and safety are paramount
People are simple. They like to recognize and be recognized. To achieve this, fashion houses carefully preserve the brand's DNA, modern craftsmen are trying to develop a recognizable style, and buyers are looking for “names” and illustrations from school textbooks.
The portrait of a young man by Botticelli is a vivid and at the same time typical evidence of the Italian Renaissance. The style of the Renaissance master is recognizable. There is no doubt about the artist's talent, the safety of the work, and the magnificence of both the portrait and the model.
Provenance, bibliography, exhibitions and iconography
Provenance, bibliography and iconography are not at all boring terms used by art critics. In marketing terms, these are monetization tools and painting pricing factors.
“Portrait of an Unknown Young Man” by Sandro Botticelli is a well-known work by the great Italian master. History of the work (provenance) has more than 14 gears and dates back to the XNUMXth century. However, until now experts have not been able to trace it back to the moment of its creation. In some cases, incomplete provenance does not work in favor of the picture. During the Renaissance, artists often painted portraits of rich and influential clients. While the family was “in power”, the works were passed down by inheritance, however, gradually the families lost their power, and the collections faded into oblivion, only to later reappear in the field of view of art connoisseurs.
The young man Botticelli is apparently a representative of the Medici family.
Bibliography portrait of an unknown person - more than 40 books, articles and reproductions. The painting was mentioned by the most famous art historians and experts of the XNUMXth century on Italian art, including Roberto Longhi, Everett Fahy, Miklós Boskowitz, Hans Belting.
Another important factor in the successful sale of a piece of art is its exhibition history. Botticelli's work has been exhibited in the world's leading cultural institutions, including the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The curators of some exhibitions doubted the authorship of this portrait, which is standard practice in museum attribution.
What about the image itself? A painting is an image. In the modern art market, works of art must be understandable to all multinational buyers: from Europe to Asia and Arab countries. The portrait is an almost universal phenomenon in the history of art.
Art is history and stories. Works of art are “written” into history by art historians and collectors, therefore, for recognition and, if necessary, successful sale, a competent art historical description and analysis of a monument of art will play one of the leading roles. To order a description of a collection or piece of art, you can here to register:.
Last and most important: life is short, but art is forever. Surround yourself with timeless beauty (for example, painting) and timeless values, and questions of price will still sink into oblivion.
