Sculpture of a humble man stokes art market to new level
- February 16, 2010 11:00
In 2009, art auction prices plummeted 24%, according to the Mei Moses Fine Art Index. Economic uncertainty caused art buyers (and sellers) at the very top level to flinch, but perhaps just for a moment. The highest price ever paid for an auctioned artwork, $104.3 million, reached by a 1960 Giacometti sculpture titled 'Walking Man I,' was a powerful indicator last month that the world's super-rich believe they have escaped financial Armageddon.
![A 19th century Seven Piece "Chrysanthemum" Pattern Sterling Silver Coffee & Tea Service, which was exhibited in the Tiffany & Co. booth at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago](/images/c/78/96/Tiffany___Co__Makers_Seven_Piece_"Chrysanthem100x100_c.jpg "A 19th century Seven Piece \"Chrysanthemum\" Pattern Sterling Silver Coffee & Tea Service, which was exhibited in the Tiffany & Co. booth at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago")
_-Closing-the-Distance_100x100_c.jpg "Lot 204: Bob Kuhn (1920–2007),Closing the Distance, 1977, acrylic on masonite, 24 x 48 in, Sold: $409,500")
