Perelman Seeks $90 Million for Monumental Giacometti Statue
Perelman Seeks $90 Million for Monumental Giacometti Statue
(Bloomberg) -- Having already sold more than $350 million worth of art, billionaire Ron Perelman is parting with a crown jewel of his collection: Alberto Giacometti’s monumental sculpture “Grande femme I.”
The Revlon Inc. owner is selling the 9-foot-tall bronze anonymously through Sotheby’s, according to people with knowledge of his collection. The auction house, which declined to comment on the seller’s identity, said it’s seeking at least $90 million for the work in a “sealed bid” private sale.
A spokesperson for Perelman declined to comment.
Potential buyers have until noon Eastern Standard Time on Oct. 27 to submit bids, which will be reviewed by Sotheby’s general counsel and an outside auditor. The final sale price will not be disclosed, according to Brooke Lampley, the firm’s vice chairman of global fine arts.
“This is the bespoke sale for a very special work by one of the greatest 20th century artists, designed to both embrace the vast potential field of interest, but also to maintain the privacy that people desire,” she said.
Conceived and executed in 1960, “Grande femme I” is one of a series of four monumental female figures Giacometti created for an unrealized outdoor sculpture installation in New York’s Chase Manhattan Plaza. The group also included the figure of a walking man, a version of which was bought for more than $100 million by Lily Safra in 2010.
Solow Foundation
The female bronze last appeared at auction in 1989, selling for $4.95 million at Christie’s. Perelman bought it in 1993 from art dealer Jeffrey Loria, according to Sotheby’s provenance, which doesn’t list the buyer by name.
Another “Grande femme I” is listed among the assets of the art foundation set up by real estate tycoon Sheldon Solow with a market value of $45 million at the end of 2018, according to the latest available tax return.
Perelman’s investment company, MacAndrews & Forbes, said in July it was reworking its holdings in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the ravages it caused to American businesses, including his own. The 77-year-old said in a statement in August that the time had come for him “to clean house, simplify and give others the chance to enjoy some of the beautiful things that I’ve acquired just as I have for decades.”
The Giacometti auction market peaked in 2015, when his sculpture of a pointing man fetched $141.3 million at Christie’s. It was purchased by hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, who also spent $100 million on a chariot by the Swiss artist at Sotheby’s the previous year.
Cohen has more recently made headlines for his $2.42 billion bid to buy the New York Mets. A spokesman for Cohen declined to comment on his interest in Perelman’s Giacometti.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.