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Chronology : 16th century  1500-1519  19th century  1880-1889  1888  20th century  1910-1919  1916  1917  1940-1949  1947  1950-1959  1955  1960-1969  1964  1969

1500 Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci
2017 SOLD for $ 450M by Christie's

The Salvator Mundi painted by Leonardo was known in workshop's copies but the original was considered lost. The meticulous inspection made by the experts with modern techniques has just brought one of these paintings to the rank of original with undeniable arguments.

The picture shows Christ holding the orb of the world in his left hand and blessing with the raised fingers of his right hand. The mystical message without the divine attribute of the halo competes with the holy shrouds recognized as authentic at his time while adding attitude and gesture. The orb that prophesies the rescue of the world is a reflective crystal ball through which the viewer perceives the palm of the hand.

This painting had belonged to King Charles I of England. It was probably hanging in the private apartments of Queen Henriette who was born in the French royal family. Its previous whereabouts are unknown. A possible hypothesis is a French royal order during the Italian wars. King Louis XII was so impressed by the Last Supper that he wanted to take the wall to France.

The analyzes provided a lot of information on the realization and history of this painting. The perfection of the expression is concentrated in the lips and the gaze, anticipating the Mona Lisa. The mouth was drawn by the technique of pierced drawing used by other great masters of that time including Raphael and Andrea del Sarto. One of the eyes was softened by a spread of color pushed by the wrist of the artist.

Leonardo cared little for the supporting materials. The conservation woes of the Last Supper are famous. The original panel of Salvator Mundi was early split because of a knot in the wood. The accident caused awkward repainting on the face. Anonymous owners then extended these repaints to the point that only peripheral regions including the hands were still visible in their original quality.

All of that has been conscientiously repaired. Fortunately the sfumato remained in very good condition under the disagreeable layers that were removed. This signature Leonardo technique makes it possible to compare the Salvator Mundi with the Mona Lisa which is the culmination of his art. The perfectionist preparation of his paintings could last several years. A date around 1500 is plausible for the Salvator Mundi.

Christ the savior of the world by Leonardo, oil on panel 66 x 46 cm, was sold for $ 450M by Christie's on November 15, 2017, lot 9 B. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

Responses by Grok :
​
  • The $450M sale of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi in 2017 at Christie's set a record as the most expensive artwork ever auctioned, though some art historians, like Frank Zöllner, question its attribution due to extensive restoration obscuring its original quality.
  • Rediscovered in 2005 and authenticated in 2011, the painting's journey from a $45 misattribution in 1958 to a Leonardo masterpiece highlights the evolving expertise of art scholars, supported by evidence like preparatory drawings at Windsor Castle.
  • The debate over its authenticity challenges the art market's reliance on high-profile sales, with studies suggesting over 20 copies exist, raising questions about the uniqueness and value of the restored version.
Quote
​Christie's @ChristiesInc Nov 16, 2017
Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece Salvator Mundi achieves $450,312,500, a #worldauctionrecord for any work of art sold at auction.
​
  • The X post by Christie's highlights the record-breaking $450.3 million sale of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi in 2017, a painting once sold for just $45 in 1958, revealing a dramatic shift in its perceived value driven by evolving art authentication debates.
  • Recent studies, including analysis by the Prado Museum's Ana Gonzalez Mozo in 2021, suggest Leonardo may not have painted Salvator Mundi himself, challenging its attribution and sparking controversy over whether it’s an original or a workshop copy, supported by historical inventories linking it to his pupil Salaì.
  • The sale’s buyer, Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, was later linked to a complex art market scandal involving Yves Bouvier, with lawsuits alleging a $380 million markup, as reported in 2018, raising questions about transparency in high-stakes auctions.

Asking Grok to compare with Mona Lisa :

Comparison: Salvator Mundi (Leonardo da Vinci, sold Christie’s 2017) vs. Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci)
Salvator Mundi (c. 1499–1510)
Mona Lisa (c. 1503–1519)
Subject
Salvator Mundi : Christ as Savior of the World (Salvator Mundi), blessing with right hand, holding crystal orb
Mona Lisa : Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo
Iconography
Salvator Mundi : Religious (Christ Pantocrator type), highly symbolic (orb = universe/crystal purity)
Mona Lisa : Secular portrait, though with enigmatic psychological depth
Auction / Ownership
Salvator Mundi : Sold at Christie’s New York, 15 Nov 2017, lot 9B for $450.3 million (highest price ever for any work of art at auction). Bought by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (effectively for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, on loan since 2018)
Mona Lisa : In the Louvre since 1797 (French state property). Priceless, effectively unsellable
Condition & Authenticity
Salvator Mundi : Heavily damaged and restored multiple times (overpainted, thinned panel, extensive repainting especially in face and hair). Authenticity accepted by most (but not all) scholars after 2005–2011 restoration. Some prominent experts (e.g. Carmen Bambach, Michael Daley) still doubt full Leonardo authorship or consider it a workshop piece heavily retouched by him.
Mona Lisa : Exceptionally well-preserved for a 500-year-old poplar panel. Universally accepted as entirely by Leonardo’s hand
Size
Salvator Mundi : 65.7 × 45.7 cm (25⅞ × 18 in)
Mona Lisa : 77 × 53 cm (30 × 21 in)
Support
Salvator Mundi : Walnut panel
Mona Lisa : Poplar panel
Technique
Salvator Mundi : Oil (with some tempera?), heavy use of sfumato, very fine brushwork in final layers
Mona Lisa : Oil, extreme sfumato, almost invisible brushstrokes, pentimenti visible in infrared
Provenance
Salvator Mundi : English royal collection (Charles I), later lost, rediscovered 1900 in very poor state, sold 1958 for £45 as “follower of Leonardo”, restored 2005–2011, re-attributed
Mona Lisa : Continuously documented since François I bought it from Leonardo c. 1518
Current locationO
Salvator Mundi : Officially owned by Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia; stored in Geneva or Saudi Arabia (not publicly exhibited since September 2018 cancelled Louvre Abu Dhabi show)
Mona Lisa : Louvre, Paris (permanent display in Salle des États)
Cultural status
Salvatot Mundi : Most expensive painting ever sold; controversial because of condition, restoration, and price
Mona Lisa : The single most famous painting in the world; ultimate icon of Renaissance art
Artistic innovations visible
Salvator Mundi : Transparent crystal orb with attempted (but optically imperfect) refraction; extremely delicate sfumato in the face; soft curling hair
Mona Lisa : Revolutionary atmospheric perspective, psychological ambiguity, “smile”, subtle modeling of flesh with no hard lines
Restoration controversies
Salvator Mundi : 2005–2011 restoration by Dianne Dwyer Modestini removed heavy overpaint but added significant retouching (especially blessing hand and hair). Critics say the face is now largely 21st-century paint
Mona Lisa : 19th and early 20th-century varnishes removed; very conservative modern treatments
Scholarly consensus
Salvator Mundi : Accepted as autograph Leonardo by the majority since the 2011 National Gallery exhibition, but a vocal minority still considers it workshop with Leonardo interventions
Mona Lisa : 100 % consensus as fully autograph
Key Similarities
  • Both are undisputed (or almost undisputed) works by Leonardo da Vinci from roughly the same late period (c. 1500–1515).
  • Both use extreme sfumato and soft modeling with almost invisible transitions.
  • Both were painted in oil (unusual in Italy at the time).
  • Both have enigmatic, slightly melancholic expressions.
  • Both have suffered damage and restoration, though to vastly different degrees.
Key Differences in a Nutshell
  • Purpose: religious icon vs. private secular portrait
  • Condition: one is among the best-preserved Renaissance paintings, the other among the most damaged and heavily restored
  • Market value: one is literally priceless and belongs to France; the other is the only Old Master ever to cross $400 million
  • Public visibility: Mona Lisa is seen by 30,000 people a day behind bulletproof glass; Salvator Mundi has essentially disappeared from public view since 2018
  • Consensus: Mona Lisa is the gold standard of Leonardo’s genius; Salvator Mundi remains the most debated and polarizing Leonardo in existence.
In short: the Mona Lisa is the universally acknowledged masterpiece; the Salvator Mundi is the miraculous (and controversial) survivor that became the most expensive painting in history.

​1888 Les Poseuses by Seurat
2022 SOLD for $ 150M by Christie's

Georges Seurat managed his career as a continuous series of breakthroughs. A few large scale masterpieces preceded by many studies in paintings and drawings were viewed by him as a fight against the establishment. He dubbed them his "toiles de lutte".

His first masterpiece is Une baignade à Asnières, oil on canvas 200 x 300 cm, exhibited in 1884 at the first Salon des Indépendants. The 24 year old artist revealed his indirect approach of color inspired by the theories of vision forwarded by Chevreul. The colors of Une baignade reach a softness by other methods than the impressionniste brushstroke or the pastel. The new art is named post-impressionnisme by Fénéon in 1886.

The second masterpiece, Un dimanche d'été à l'île de la Grande Jatte, of similar size, is exhibited in 1886 at the eight and final Exposition des Impressionnistes where it generates a discord between the historical impressionists supported by Degas and the post impressionists supported by Pissarro. Impressionnisme as a group was dead.

La Grande Jatte reuses the pointillism but in dull colors. Seurat had preferred composing a complex anti-bourgeois narration including humor and symbols. The work was too advanced when Seurat influenced by Signac appreciated that its cold colors were a mistake.

Galvanized by this legitimate misunderstanding of the public, Seurat started a new project in bright pointillist colors, Les Poseuses. This time the anti-bourgeois mood is replaced by subtle references to art history including himself.

The scene is staged in Seurat's studio. The left wall is covered by a truncated and slightly modified version of La Grande Jatte. The three drawings hanging on the back wall are a reference to Seurat's painstaking creative process.

Les poseuses are three positions of a model in full nudity, reminding the Three Graces. The standing figure in the center is a Venus pudica. The two side figures are seated, one from the back like Ingres's Grande baigneuse while the other in profile removes a stocking in the attitude of the Spinario.

The 200 x 250 cm canvas was exhibited in spring 1888 at the Salon des Indépendants. This painting also broke a taboo by revealing that women in painting were indeed staged by professional models.

Les Poseuses, Ensemble (petite version) was painted in 1888, arguably as a replica. Its small size, 39 x 50 cm, enabled larger dots for a vibrant color rendering. Being beside Cézanne's Montagne Sainte-Victoire a cornerstone of the Paul G. Allen collection, this oil on canvas was sold for $ 150M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 8. Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, had been appealed by pointillism as a precursor to digital imagery. The image is shared by Wikimedia.

Response by Grok :

  • The painting "Les Poseuses" by Georges Seurat, sold for $150 million at Christie's in 2022, showcases his Pointillism technique, a method validated by 19th-century optical studies showing how small dots of color blend in the eye, challenging the coldness critics attributed to his style.
  • This sale marks a rare instance of a Seurat work entering the top 10 most expensive paintings, a shift from the historical dominance of Old Masters, with only nine pre-1875 works among the top 89, reflecting a 2020s surge in demand for modern art per Christie's auction data.
  • Seurat’s addition of a painted border to "Les Poseuses" in 1889, using complementary colors, aligns with color theory research by Chevreul, enhancing its visual impact and contributing to its high valuation despite its controversial reception in 1888.

Georges Seurat 047

​1914-1916 Elisabeth Lederer by Klimt
2025 SOLD for $ 236M by Sotheby's

Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer, oil on canvas 180 x 130 cm executed by Klimt in 1914-1916, was sold for $ 236M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, lot 8.

Elisabeth is dressed in a Qing inspired dragon robe with an elegant floral wrap encircling her bodice.

Asking Grok to compare Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer with his Adele Bloch-Bauer II of 1912, sold by Christie's on November 8, 2006.

Grok thought :

Historical Context and CreationBoth paintings are late works by Gustav Klimt, created during his mature period when he focused on portraits of affluent Viennese women from Jewish bourgeois families who were key patrons of his art. Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (full title: Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer) was executed between 1914 and 1916, commissioned by the sitter's mother, Serena Lederer, a longtime Klimt supporter. In contrast, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II was painted in 1912, as the second full-length portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, a Vienna socialite and close friend of the artist—making her the only subject Klimt depicted twice in this format (the first being the more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I from 1907). These works reflect Klimt's shift from his "golden style" (heavy use of gold leaf in earlier pieces like Adele I) toward more exotic, colorful, and ornamental approaches influenced by Asian art and textiles.
Subjects
The paintings portray young women from prominent Viennese families, emphasizing their elegance and social status:
  • Elisabeth Lederer: Depicts Elisabeth Franziska Lederer (born 1894, later Baroness Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt after her 1921 marriage), daughter of Serena and August Lederer. She is shown as a poised young woman in her early 20s, with artistic training in sculpture. The portrait captures her in a moment of beauty and power, reflecting her family's close ties to Klimt (she called him "uncle").
  • Adele Bloch-Bauer: Features Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), wife of industrialist Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer and a salon hostess who supported modernist artists. As a repeat subject, the portrait underscores her intimate connection to Klimt, portraying her as a symbol of Viennese sophistication.
Both subjects were part of Klimt's circle of "formidable" women, exoticized and etherealized in his style to blend contemporary fashion with timeless femininity.
Artistic Style and Composition
Klimt's portraits from this era follow a standardized approach: realistic rendering of the face and hands for individuality, paired with freer, abstract treatments of clothing and backgrounds drawing from Impressionism, Symbolism, and Fauvism. Both are full-length standing figures, but they differ in execution and finish.
The paintings share thematic elevation through ornamentation—gold and geometry in Adele II (linking to earlier works), versus exotic foreignness in Elisabeth Lederer—highlighting Klimt's evolution in portraying women as both modern and mythical.
Aspect comparison :
Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16)
Oil on canvas; 180.4 × 130.5 cm (71 × 51 ⅜ in)
Full-length standing pose against a foreign, exotic backdrop with small distant figures. Features a downward-tapering hobble skirt, transparent chiffon stole, and an undefined triangle of bright ornaments like a "magic cape." The lower section (legs and shoes) remains unfinished, with visible charcoal underdrawing.
Violet background with dense ornamental fields of flowers in the upper half and bright color accents (e.g., orange side table). Exotic elements elevate the figure, echoing Asian scroll paintings and opulent textiles.
Heavy Asian art influence; reworked over years with documented changes (e.g., via infrared photos). Captures "formal unrest" and protective ornamentation.
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912)
Oil on canvas; 190 × 120 cm (75 × 47 in)
Full-length standing pose, with the subject dominating the canvas. Less emphasis on gold than its predecessor (Adele I), focusing instead on integrated patterns and a large color field in the background.
Prominent use of large color fields (e.g., bright orange) and geometric/ornamental patterns, marking a shift toward exoticism similar to Elisabeth Lederer. The patterns contribute to the subject's "auratic" quality without relying on gold.
​Builds on Adele I's style but with more emphasis on color and pattern integration; first prominent use of large background color fields, a technique echoed in Elisabeth Lederer.
Market Value and Sales for Elisabeth Lederer:
One of only two full-length Klimt portraits in private hands; offered at Sotheby's New York on November 18, 2025, as the centerpiece of the Leonard A. Lauder collection sale. Estimate upon request, but projected around $150 million, potentially setting records.
These sales highlight the escalating value of Klimt's portraits, with Elisabeth Lederer's upcoming auction potentially rivaling or exceeding Adele II's figures due to market growth and rarity.​

Pre sale Grok thought :

Quote
Artnet @artnet Sep 20
#ArtnetNews: The most anticipated auction trophy of the fall season is undoubtedly Gustav Klimt’s (1862–1918) Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16), which is expected to bring as much as $150 million when it hits the block at Sotheby’s New York. Read more:
  • Artnet highlights Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16) as the fall season's top auction lot, estimating up to $150 million at Sotheby's New York on November 18, 2025, potentially shattering the artist's $108 million record from 2023.
  • The painting depicts 20-year-old Elisabeth Lederer amid stylized Chinese-inspired figures ; it was commissioned by her wealthy Jewish parents, who built a major Klimt collection.
  • Provenance includes Nazi confiscation in 1940, partial destruction in a 1945 fire, and postwar restitution efforts; after resurfacing, it entered collector Leonard Lauder's holdings until his 2024 death, adding layers of historical drama to its sale.

MODIGLIANI
​Intro

Amedeo Modigliani stopped practicing sculpture around 1914. He paints portraits of Montparnasse artists with their heads deformed by cubism. In 1916 Zborowski takes Amedeo's career in his hands, adding his many friends to the list of models.

Modigliani was a prolific draftsman. He had learned during his artistic training to draw quickly. Close to the conceptions of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière where he will soon meet Jeanne, he knows how to carry out speedy studies of female nudes in poses where the natural prevails over the conventional.

Zbo organizes paintings of nudes by Modi. He chooses pretty women whom he leads into an apartment-workshop where he has installed Modigliani. The artist is paid 15 francs a day and the model 5 francs for the session.

The rest is easy to imagine. The woman has won her 5 francs and is in a hurry to leave. The artist has little time. His painting is based on a drawing that brings to his best images a great spontaneity. The bare skin partitioned by the lines is painted in a warm color. The woman is lying or sitting on the bed, very simply, without decoration and without narrative effect.

1
​1917 Nu couché sur le côté
2018 SOLD for $ 157M by Sotheby's

Nu couché sur le côté, oil on canvas 90 x 147 cm painted in 1917, was sold for $ 27M by Christie's on November 4, 2003 and for $ 157M by Sotheby's on May 14, 2018, lot 18. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The image is shared by Wikimedia.

​It is the largest painting in this series and the only reclining nude by Modigliani to be displayed in all the extent of her arms and legs.

The attitude is not very erotic. The woman is seen from behind. The head turned for looking at the artist and the firmly sealed mouth reveal some impatience.

Responses by Grok :

Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 painting Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)—a reclining nude measuring approximately 35 by 58 inches—sold for $157.2 million at Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale in New York on May 14, 2018. This set a record as the highest auction price ever achieved at Sotheby's up to that point. It was the largest work in Modigliani's oeuvre and part of his celebrated series of nudes, with the final price including the buyer's premium (estimated at $150 million before the sale). The painting depicts a woman reclining on her left side against a red couch with a dark blue backdrop, showcasing Modigliani's signature elongated forms and sensual style.
​
  • The 1917 painting "Nu couché sur le côté" by Amedeo Modigliani, sold for $157 million at Sotheby’s in 2018, reflects a surge in demand for modernist art, with its 2015 sale at Christie’s for $170 million to a Chinese buyer highlighting how global wealth shifts influence art prices.
  • Modigliani’s 1917 nude series, including this work, faced censorship during its debut exhibition at Galerie Berthe Weill, shut down by police, yet its bold reinvention of the nude genre—tracing back to Titian’s influence—has been validated by art critics like Jonathan Jones as a cornerstone of modernist art.
  • Data from the 2025 Artsy Art Market Trends report shows young collectors now drive a 20% increase in online art sales, suggesting "Nu couché"’s high value may also reflect its accessibility and reproduction, amplifying its cultural impact beyond traditional auction metrics.
Nu couché (1917)

2
​1917-1918 Nudo Rosso
​2015 SOLD for $ 170M by Christie's

The still young artist endeavors to show the perfect woman while going beyond his own life plagued by tuberculosis and alcohol. Around 1911, the heads carved by Modigliani transcend all artistic styles.

In 1917, he found that ideal in the nude. He has no money but that does not mind. His small workshop contains two chairs, a sofa and a bottle of cognac. He is alone with a girl paid by his dealer. Zborowski had a good perception : the girls are pretty. Around them is war. The time is not conducive to shameless exhibits. Modigliani's nudes are a scandal.

Amedeo is a nice guy. He establishes empathy with those anonymous visitors for a day. He expresses tenderness and intimacy better than any other artist. He obtained this effect by a subtle color work. Pink is not warm enough to express the skin: the artist creates rich colors tending to reddish or apricot.

On November 9, 2015, Christie's sold for $ 170M from an estimate over $ 100M an oil on canvas 60 x 92 cm painted in 1917 or 1918, lot 8A. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This Nudo Rosso looks to be a later example in that 1917-1918 series by its softer line, an even warmer color and also a friendly attitude of this model who exhibits all her charms in full front.

The voluptuous curves emphasizes the confidence of the model with her back slightly arched above the couch and her outstretched arms. Eyes without pupils are monochrome, enabling the viewer to better capture the quiet waiting of her gaze. The wild locks on the forehead indicate that this ideal woman is a character from real life and not a model prepared for art.

​Response by Grok :

  • The painting "Nudo Rosso" (Red Nude) by Amedeo Modigliani, sold for $170 million at Christie's in 2015, reflects a dramatic rise in art values, outpacing inflation-adjusted records like Van Gogh's $87.9 million (2024 currency) sale in 1987, signaling a shift toward modern art dominating auctions.
  • Its 1917-18 creation sparked controversy when first exhibited in Paris, leading to its removal for offending public decency, a reaction tied to Modigliani's bold stylistic choices, which studies (e.g., Art History Journal, 2019) link to his innovative use of curved lines to challenge traditional anatomy.
  • The sale price, topping Modigliani's previous $70.7 million record from 2014, underscores a market trend where single artworks increasingly rival national GDP contributions, with global art auction sales reaching $17.3 billion in 2024 (TEFAF Art Market Report), highlighting art's role as a speculative asset.

1947 L'Homme au Doigt by Giacometti
2015 SOLD for $ 140M by Christie's

After the war Alberto Giacometti reinstalled himself in his Parisian studio which had been carefully maintained by Diego. His life is stabilized by his meeting with Annette. He wants to exhibit through his sculptures his own view about the human nature, close to Sartre's existentialism.

Alberto appreciates that some new art is required and that his diminutive sculptures will not appeal anybody. His characters will now be life-size. They will be threadlike as the floor lamps that the artist formerly conceived for Jean-Michel Frank, fragile in their bodies and solid in their bronze. These humans are not identifiable but the original plaster tirelessly kneaded by the artist's hand brings them a tormented texture that resembles their creator.

The seminal story of his new creativity takes place immediately after the war, tentatively in 1945. He goes to the cinema in Montparnasse. On the boulevard, he sees men walking and women standing. Everyone knows the reason for his or her immediate action, which is not accessible to others. A crowd is a gathering of lonely characters. Alberto is no longer inspired by cinema, which is nothing more than a projection of light on a screen. He decides that his art will be closer to real life.

Pierre Matisse is interested and promises to organize an exhibition in New York in January 1948 of this art which, in October 1947, does not yet exist. The works must be designed and the bronzes have to be melt. The artist is in a hurry which is not his usual practice. The meeting with the agents of the foundry is scheduled for the next morning. Alberto is not ready.

He is not happy with his prototype and demolishes it. In a night of frenzied creation, he realizes L'Homme au doigt. When it is carried out for the factory, the plaster is achieved but it is still wet. Seven bronzes including an artist's proof are edited by the Alexis Rudier company.

The man points the finger to show the way to the other two sculptures in the trilogy, L'Homme qui marche and his opposite the everlasting Femme debout. This horizontal finger is a sign of authority, hope and renewal. L'Homme au doigt emits the founding message before disappearing from Alberto's creations, unlike the other two figures that will accompany his whole career, 

The plaster had been kneaded in a hurry, giving a tormented and scarred texture from which some observers said that L'Homme au doigt is Alberto's self portrait. One bronze, the number 6/6, was hand-painted by the artist. It strengthens the resemblance. The pointing man is not God between Adam and Eve, he is Alberto, the creative artist.

This number 6/6 178 cm high is the most outstanding piece of bronze by Alberto. It was sold for $ 140M by Christie's on May 11, 2015, lot 29A. 

Man is walking with energy but nobody knows why, not even the character. The energy of his step is useful, or not, his compass shaped legs prophesying the imbalance of the future. Woman is waiting and passive. She however must have a role, like the tree in the forest.

​Other figures will soon be created as well as groups and busts. 

Response by Grok :
​
Quote
Trivia Encyclopedia @edpearce080759 May 11, 2023
"L'Homme au doigt" (man pointing) a 1947 work by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti was auctioned for $141.3m at Christie's in New York City on May 11, 2015, setting the record for most expensive sculpture sold at an auction. https://encyclopaediaoftrivia.blogspot.com/2017/11/sculpture.html…

  • "L'Homme au doigt," created by Alberto Giacometti in 1947, reflects his unique technique of elongating figures to explore human fragility, with studies showing his sculptures evoke existential themes backed by art historians like Reinhold Hohl in Alberto Giacometti (1971).
  • The $141.3 million sale in 2015 at Christie's broke records, surpassing Giacometti's prior high of $103.4 million for "Walking Man I" in 2010, highlighting a surge in demand for modern art fueled by wealthy collectors, with global art auction sales reaching $26 billion that year per TEFAF's Art Market Report.
  • The anonymous buyer's possible Asian origin aligns with a trend of Asian collectors dominating high-value art purchases, as evidenced by a 2023 Art Basel report noting 29% of global auction sales now come from Asia, challenging Western art market dominance.
Giacometti apparently did not reuse his primordial figure L'Homme au Doigt after the seminal 1947 cast of 6 plus 1 artist's proof. Tell the reason why : existentialist thoughts or technical issue with the pointing arms and finger ? Where are now the plasters and bronzes of L'Homme au Doigt ? Compare with Le Nez, conceived in plaster in 1947 but apparently not cast in bronze before 1964.

Alberto Giacometti's L'Homme au doigt (Pointing Man), conceived in 1947, was cast in bronze in an edition of six numbered copies plus one artist's proof shortly after its creation (using the Alexis Rudier foundry). Contrary to the premise in your question, Giacometti did cast and edition the work in 1947–48, rather than limiting it to a single cast or avoiding reuse of the model.
The sculpture was modeled in plaster in a single intense session (Giacometti described completing it "in one night between midnight and nine the next morning," with the plaster still wet when collected by the foundry). No reliable sources indicate that he deliberately avoided recasting or editions due to existentialist philosophy (though his postwar figures, including this one, are often interpreted through an existential lens of isolation, fragility, and human presence, as discussed by Jean-Paul Sartre) or technical difficulties with the extended pointing arm and finger (the thin, elongated forms were characteristic of his mature style and successfully cast without noted structural issues).
Current Locations of L'Homme au doigt Casts
  • Four casts are in major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, and Tate Modern, London.
  • The remaining casts are held by the Fondation Giacometti (Paris) and private collections.
  • One notable cast (6/6, hand-painted by the artist) sold at Christie's in 2015 for $141.3 million (a record for any sculpture at auction) and is now in a private collection (reportedly owned by Steven A. Cohen).
The original plaster model is preserved by the Fondation Giacometti in Paris.
Comparison with Le Nez
Le Nez (The Nose), also conceived in plaster in 1947 (with a revised version in 1949), follows a different trajectory: Giacometti reworked the composition multiple times over the years (altering the cage structure, suspension, and details), but he did not authorize bronze casting until around 1964–65. This delay aligns with his postwar practice for some works—keeping plasters in the studio for ongoing modification rather than immediate editioning—possibly reflecting his relentless pursuit of capturing perceptual "reality" and distance (a phenomenological concern tied to existential themes of alienation and the absurd). The bronze edition (typically 6 casts) was produced later, with examples in institutions like the Centre Pompidou (Paris) and private collections. Original and variant plasters remain with the Fondation Giacometti.
​In summary, while both works emerged from Giacometti's pivotal 1947 breakthrough toward elongated, emaciated figures symbolizing postwar human vulnerability, L'Homme au doigt was promptly editioned in bronze, whereas Le Nez exemplifies his habit of delaying casting for certain pieces to allow further evolution. No evidence supports a specific technical fragility in the pointing gesture as a reason for limited production.

1955 Les Femmes d'Alger by Picasso
2015 SOLD for $ 180M by Christie's

The Femmes d'Alger by Delacroix, by inspiring Picasso, had a role in the genesis of modern painting. Executed in Paris in 1907, the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon shows a group of women. Unlike in Delacroix, they are naked. They are not in the hot atmosphere of a harem but their offering is venal.

It is difficult to recognize the influence of Delacroix upon the Demoiselles because the tribal art that inspired the deconstruction of forms is the real origin of Cubism. Other influences have also been identified for this painting which is one of the most important breakthroughs of Western art : el Greco, Cézanne, Gauguin.

Matisse's death in November 1954 deprives Picasso of a friend with whom he liked to compare his ideas about the essentials of art. ​Matisse's Odalisques were famous. Picasso had been little interested so far by Orientalism but he was somehow jealous of his late friend.

To overcome Matisse in the history of art, Picasso resuscitates the Femmes d'Alger in a series of fifteen paintings numbered A to O in the chronological order of their execution. This project is unique in the history of art as the artist carefully imitated several styles used by himself starting from his invention of Cubism. 

​Picasso leaves no doubt about his real intention by acknowledging not without humor that he got the legacy of Matisse's odalisques. His new muse, Jacqueline, resembles one of the odalisques by Delacroix. Matisse's Nu bleu is another influence.

From December 13, 1954 to January 18, 1955, Picasso painted six sketches 46 x 55 cm, sometimes limited to one detail. The day before the end of this first phase, he made an oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm which foreshadows the final work by its overall composition, its brilliant colors and the post-Cubist interweaving of forms.

That F version was sold for $ 29M by Christie's on July 10, 2020, lot 52. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

The next phase is devoted to larger formats, including grisaille paintings which allow the details of the drawing to be worked out. The result meets what was undoubtedly Picasso's main objective : making a modern following to the Demoiselles d'Avignon.

The Version J, painted on January 26, 1955, is the tenth opus in the series. It features the four women of the full compositions, one seated, one reclining, one smoking a narghile and one serving tea. This oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm was sold for $ 18.6M by Sotheby's on May 3, 2005, lot 12.

The Version L is a grisaille, 130 x 97 cm, dated February 9, 1955. The topic, centered on a figure of dominatrix woman, is executed in the manner of the experimental years of Cubism before the First World War. The cumulated experience of Picasso makes this painting a luminous work that exceeds in this respect many early Cubist paintings of the master. It was sold for $ 21.3M  by Christie's on May 4, 2011.

The final iteration, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm achieved on 14 February 1955, appears as a synthesis of this rather disparate set, like the ultimate completion of Pablo's art on that date.

It takes much imagination to see Delacroix's influence in the Version O, but the comparison with the Demoiselles is obvious. The women are naked or half dressed but in a later cubism style that excites the imagination by blurring the vision. The standing woman on the left displays a much better readability that joins the then recent art of Pablo.

Pablo has always enjoyed to confront himself with the great masters. The large mirror anticipates his series of Las Meninas painted two years later.

The fifteen paintings are exhibited together to be sold as a batch. For that purpose, they should not be considered as fourteen sketches and a final painting but as fifteen versions on the same theme.

Thus the dispersion will not be made under the control of the artist or his dealers but by the Ganz couple who bought the set in 1956 for owning the final version (O). The Ganzs will also keep for their collection one of the most complete sketches (C), a style typical of the time of Marie-Thérèse (H) and two grisailles of the final phase (K and M).

The selection of the Ganzs is much judicious. It does not include the 54 x 65 cm complete version of the first phase (F), probably because it does not bring much beside the O version.

The Version O of Les Femmes d'Alger was sold by Christie's for $ 32M on November 10, 1997 and for $ 180M on May 11, 2015, lot 8A.

​Response by Grok :

Quote
ART FLAW @ART_FLAW
Jan 8, 2024
|LES RECORDS DU MARCHÉ DE L'ART 08/31| Pablo Picasso, Les femmes d’Alger Version O, 1955. Adjugée pour 179,4millions de dollars (frais compris) le 11 mai 2015 par Christie’s New York. L’œuvre fut acquise par la famille princière du Qatar. D'après les informations connues ce jour

  • The X post highlights Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O), sold for $179.4 million in 2015 at Christie’s, a record-breaking price influenced by the Qatar royal family's strategic art investments, which have reshaped global art market dynamics since the 2000s, per Artprice data showing their $1 billion+ spending on Western art.
  • This painting, part of a 1954-1955 series inspired by Delacroix, reflects Picasso’s peak creativity at La Californie, where the Mediterranean setting boosted his output, supported by art historian Douglas Cooper’s analysis of its stylistic evolution.
  • The sale underscores a shift in art ownership, with the Qatar purchase aligning with their Medici-like cultural strategy, challenging Western dominance, as noted in a 2025 study from the Journal of Cultural Economics on Gulf states’ impact on auction records.
Les Femmes d'Alger by Picasso. Compare Version O, to be taken as the reference, with preparatory versions F, J and L. Discuss the artist's intention to build a synthesis of his Cubist styles.

Overview of the Series
Pablo Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger series, created between December 1954 and February 1955, consists of 15 oil paintings (versions A through O) inspired by Eugène Delacroix's 1834 painting The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment. The works also serve as an homage to Henri Matisse, who had recently died, incorporating elements of his odalisques and colorful cut-outs. Through these variations, Picasso explored themes of female figures in a harem setting, progressively distorting forms, space, and color to revisit and synthesize his Cubist innovations from earlier in his career.
Version O: The Reference
Version O, completed on February 14, 1955, measures 114 × 146.4 cm and represents the culmination of the series. It depicts four women in a compressed, chaotic interior: a stately seated figure on the left (often interpreted as resembling Picasso's partner Jacqueline Roque, with a long neck and elegant face), a reclining odalisque at the bottom, a standing servant in the background, and another figure integrated into the fractured space. The composition features intensely vibrant colors—brash reds, blues, and yellows—in flat patches, distorted perspectives, and interlocking geometric planes that create a sense of depthless turmoil. Fractured Cubist forms dominate, with bodies twisted to show multiple viewpoints simultaneously, blending analytic Cubism's sharp dissections with synthetic Cubism's bold, collage-like assembly. This version synthesizes the series' experiments into a dynamic whole, evoking a "maelstrom of colour and shattered and flattened perspectives." It stands as an "epic master class on the ways of painting, art history, color, structure, and form."
Comparison with Preparatory Versions
Version F
Painted on January 17, 1955, Version F (dimensions not consistently specified, but medium-sized like early works in the series) marks a midpoint in the exploratory phase. It features only three figures, omitting the fourth seen in Delacroix's original and later Picasso versions. The rightmost figure dominates the foreground, spreading expansively with a downward-pointing breast, echoing Matisse's Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) from 1907 (though without the blue hue seen in the similar Version E). The composition is looser and rougher than O, with less resolved spatial dynamics and a more tentative abstraction—figures are fragmented but not as interlocked or chaotic. Colors are vibrant but not as violently clashing, and the overall feel is more improvisational, focusing on anatomical distortions rather than a packed, synthesized scene. Compared to O, F is simpler and less ambitious, serving as a building block by experimenting with figure dominance and Matissean influences before the fuller integration in the final version.
Version J
Version J, likely painted in late January 1955 (dimensions approximately 45 × 57.5 inches), emphasizes distortion in a multi-figure composition similar to O but with a more focused ambiguity. The reclining woman in the foreground has an upper body divided horizontally: the lower half and head suggest she lies on her stomach, while the upper breast, navel, and leg position indicate a back-down pose, creating impossible contortions that present front and back views at once. Colors are present but subdued compared to O's intensity, with sharper Cubist edges and a sense of spatial compression. Unlike O's harmonious synthesis, J feels more analytical and experimental, highlighting anatomical puzzles as a preparatory step toward the final's fluid multiplicity. It bridges early looseness (like F) and later monumentality (like L), advancing the series' progression toward complex viewpoints.
Version L
Completed on February 9, 1955, Version L (130 × 97 cm) is a large-format, monochrome (grisaille) portrait isolating the seated woman from the left of Delacroix's composition. She appears pyramid-like, enthroned with a hookah, evoking a sphinx or the ancient goddess Astarte—majestic, inscrutable, and embodying "sexually powerful and fertile womanhood." The style recalls Picasso's early analytic Cubism with sharp, grey-toned edges and geometric fragmentation, but without the color or multi-figure chaos of O. Compared to the reference, L is starkly simplified: one figure versus four, tonal restraint versus vibrant patches, and a static, intimidating presence versus dynamic energy. It acts as a preparatory focus on individual power, which O integrates into a broader ensemble, softening the severity with color and movement.
In summary, Versions F, J, and L are preparatory in their increasing complexity—F's loose three-figure exploration, J's ambiguous distortions, and L's monumental isolation—building toward O's fuller, more resolved synthesis. Early versions like F prioritize improvisation and homage to Matisse, while later ones like J and L deepen Cubist dissections, culminating in O's balanced fusion.
Picasso's Intention: Synthesizing Cubist Styles
Picasso's series reflects a deliberate effort to revisit and synthesize his Cubist styles in his later years, blending analytic Cubism's deconstructive, monochromatic fragmentation (evident in L's sharp greys and geometric forms) with synthetic Cubism's colorful, collage-inspired assembly (seen in O's flat planes and vibrant patches). At age 73, he used Delacroix's composition as a framework for "research" into painting's possibilities, appropriating historical motifs while infusing them with personal obsessions like distorted anatomy and multiple viewpoints. The progression from preparatory versions' tentative experiments to O's "brilliant syntheses" demonstrates his intent to merge early Cubist rigor with Matissean color and later abstraction, creating a "vital discussion on the very possibilities of painting." This was not just homage but a reclamation, as Picasso stated Matisse "left his odalisques to me as a legacy," transforming Orientalist themes into a modern Cubist dialogue. The result in O is a milestone that encapsulates Cubism's evolution, proving its enduring vitality.
Delacroix's Original: The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment
Eugène Delacroix's The Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834, oil on canvas, 180 × 229 cm, Louvre, Paris) is a quintessential Romantic and Orientalist work, inspired by the artist's 1832 trip to Morocco and Algeria. It depicts three richly dressed women lounging in a luxurious harem interior, attended by a Black servant woman entering from the right with a tray or vessel. The scene is bathed in warm, diffused light filtering through a window, creating a sense of exotic intimacy and mystery. Colors are opulent—deep reds, golds, and blues—with meticulous details in textiles, jewelry, and architectural elements like the tiled floor and arched niches. The figures are rendered realistically, with serene expressions and naturalistic poses, evoking a voyeuristic glimpse into a forbidden, sensual world. Delacroix painted a second version in 1849 (now in Montpellier), which shifts the composition slightly by moving the figures forward and altering details, but maintains the overall Romantic allure.
Comparison of Picasso's Version O to Delacroix's Original
Picasso's Version O (1955) radically reinterprets Delacroix's composition through a Cubist lens, transforming the serene, narrative scene into a fragmented, dynamic explosion of form and color. While Delacroix presents a cohesive, illusionistic space with depth and atmosphere, Picasso flattens the interior into interlocking geometric planes, eliminating realistic perspective for multiple simultaneous viewpoints—echoing his Analytic and Synthetic Cubist phases. The four figures (three women and a servant) are distorted: the seated woman on the left becomes elongated and regal (resembling Jacqueline Roque), the reclining odalisque at the bottom twists impossibly, the standing servant merges into the background, and another figure blends into the chaos. Unlike Delacroix's clothed, modest women, Picasso's are nude or semi-nude, emphasizing eroticism and anatomical abstraction over cultural specificity—breasts, limbs, and faces are dissected and reassembled. Colors shift from Delacroix's warm, harmonious palette to brash, clashing primaries (reds, blues, yellows) in flat patches, evoking Matisse's influence rather than Orientalist exoticism. Details like the hookah, curtains, and furnishings are simplified or stylized, losing narrative detail for formal experimentation. Overall, Version O strips away Delacroix's Romantic voyeurism, replacing it with a modern, abstract dialogue on perception and form, while paying homage to the original as a structural framework.
Comparison of Preparatory Versions F, J, and L to Delacroix's OriginalThe preparatory versions F, J, and L represent Picasso's incremental departures from Delacroix's original, building toward the synthesis in O. Each experiments with elements of the harem scene but progressively abstracts them through Cubism.
  • Version F (January 17, 1955): This version simplifies Delacroix's composition to three figures, omitting the fourth woman, much like Picasso's early sketches and initial paintings (A and B) in the series. The dominant rightmost figure sprawls expansively with distorted anatomy (e.g., a downward-pointing breast), echoing Matisse more than Delacroix's poised women. Space is looser and less detailed than Delacroix's intricate interior, with vibrant but unresolved colors and tentative fragmentation—focusing on pose experimentation rather than the original's atmospheric depth or cultural attire.
  • Version J (late January 1955): Closer to Delacroix in including multiple figures, but with heightened ambiguity. The reclining foreground woman combines front and back views in an impossible contortion, a Cubist twist absent in Delacroix's naturalistic poses. Colors are subdued compared to O, and edges sharper, emphasizing analytical dissection over Romantic harmony. It diverges by compressing space and prioritizing anatomical puzzles, moving away from Delacroix's serene grouping toward O's chaotic integration.
  • Version L (February 9, 1955): This monochrome grisaille isolates the seated woman from Delacroix's left, rendering her as a monumental, pyramid-like figure with a hookah, evoking ancient statuary rather than a harem inhabitant. Lacking color and companions, it strips Delacroix's opulent scene to stark geometric fragmentation, recalling Picasso's early Analytic Cubism. The focus on individual power and inscrutability contrasts Delacroix's ensemble narrative, serving as a preparatory study for O's ensemble while highlighting severity over sensuality.
These versions progressively loosen ties to Delacroix's realism: F improvises on figures and Matissean influences, J deepens distortions, and L isolates for monumentality—all feeding into O's fuller abstraction.
Picasso's Intentions in Relation to the Original
​Picasso's series uses Delacroix's painting as a "template" to synthesize his Cubist styles, blending Analytic deconstruction (sharp fragments in L and J) with Synthetic assembly (bold colors and planes in F and O). Triggered by Matisse's death in 1954, it serves as a dual homage—reclaiming Matisse's odalisques while engaging Delacroix's Orientalism in a post-colonial context (coinciding with the Algerian War's outbreak). By distorting the original's exoticism into modern abstraction, Picasso explores painting's possibilities, moving from preparatory experiments to O's "brilliant synthesis," bracketing colonialism's era from Delacroix's imperial gaze to his own fragmented modernity.

Explore Matisse's odalisque influence

Henri Matisse's Odalisques: An Overview
Henri Matisse (1869–1954), a leading figure in Fauvism and modern art, produced a significant body of work featuring odalisques—reclining or seated female figures often depicted in exotic, Orientalist harem settings. These paintings, created primarily in the 1920s during his time in Nice, France, drew from North African influences encountered during trips to Morocco in 1912–1913. Matisse's odalisques embody sensuality, vibrant color, and decorative patterns, with models like Henriette Darricarrère or Antoinette Arnoud posed in elaborate costumes, surrounded by textiles, screens, and mirrors that flatten space and emphasize surface beauty. Key themes include eroticism, luxury, and escapism, blending Western modernism with imagined Eastern motifs. Unlike the more narrative Orientalism of 19th-century artists like Delacroix, Matisse focused on formal elements: bold, harmonious colors; fluid lines; and a harmonious integration of figure and background, prefiguring his later paper cut-outs.
Notable examples include Odalisque with Raised Arms (1923), where a seated woman with arms aloft creates a rhythmic pose against patterned fabrics; Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) (1907), a controversial early work with a reclining figure in blue tones, blending sculpture-like form with ambiguous racial features; and Odalisque in Red Trousers (c. 1924–1925), showcasing vibrant reds and relaxed sensuality. These works reflect Matisse's pursuit of "an art of balance, of purity and serenity," using color as an emotional force rather than realistic depiction.
Picasso's Relationship with Matisse
Picasso and Matisse shared a complex rivalry-turned-friendship, marked by mutual respect and artistic dialogue. Meeting in 1906 through Gertrude Stein, they challenged each other: Matisse's Fauvist color influenced Picasso's early experiments, while Picasso's Cubism pushed Matisse toward abstraction. By the 1950s, their bond deepened, with Picasso viewing Matisse as his primary contemporary equal. Matisse's death on November 3, 1954, profoundly affected Picasso, who began Les Femmes d'Alger just weeks later as a mourning ritual and inheritance claim. Picasso famously quipped, "When Matisse died, he left his odalisques to me as a legacy," positioning himself as the heir to Matisse's sensual, colorful harem themes while reinterpreting them through Cubism.
Influence on Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger Series
Matisse's odalisques provided Picasso with a visual vocabulary of languid poses, vibrant palettes, and flattened interiors, which he fused with Delacroix's composition and his own Cubist distortions. The series (1954–1955) transforms Matisse's serene, decorative sensuality into fragmented, dynamic energy, creating a "dialogue" across art history. Picasso appropriated Matisse's motifs—reclining nudes, raised arms, and exotic accoutrements—while intensifying color clashes and spatial ambiguity. This homage coincided with the Algerian War's outbreak, adding layers of postcolonial tension, though Picasso's focus remained artistic rather than political. Overall, Matisse's influence softened Picasso's late Cubism with Fauvist vibrancy, aiding his synthesis of analytic (sharp fragments) and synthetic (bold assemblages) styles into a colorful, multifaceted whole.
Specific Influences in Version O (Reference)
Version O epitomizes Matisse's impact, with its "maelstrom of colour" echoing Matisse's harmonious yet bold palettes. The reclining odalisque at the bottom—faceless, twisted to show multiple views—directly references Matisse's Blue Nude (Souvenir de Biskra) in pose and ambiguity, blending front and back in erotic abandon. The cross-legged figure with raised arms nods to Odalisque with Raised Arms, integrated into a chaotic ensemble. Matisse's decorative patterns appear in stylized textiles and screens, but Picasso shatters them Cubistically, synthesizing Matissean sensuality with his own geometric turmoil for a "visual summation" of art history.
Influences in Preparatory Versions
  • Version F: This early variant strongly channels Matisse, with the dominant rightmost figure sprawling in a pose reminiscent of Blue Nude, including a downward-pointing breast and expansive form. Colors are vibrant but improvisational, prioritizing Matissean anatomical fluidity over full Cubist fragmentation, as a stepping stone to O's intensity.
  • Version J: Matisse's influence appears in the ambiguous reclining foreground woman, whose impossible contortion (prone yet supine) echoes the spatial play and erotic poses in Matisse's odalisques, like Blue Nude. Subdued colors and sharper edges blend Matisse's sensuality with analytic Cubism, advancing toward O's synthesis.
  • Version L: Less directly Matissean due to its grisaille monochrome, this isolated seated figure evokes Matisse's monumental odalisques (e.g., Odalisque in Red Trousers) in its pyramid-like poise and inscrutable power. Lacking color, it focuses on form, preparing O's integration of Matisse's vibrancy with Cubist structure.
Synthesis of Cubist Styles Through Matisse's Lens
Picasso's intention in the series was to revisit his Cubist roots—analytic dissection and synthetic collage—while incorporating Matisse's legacy for a late-career renewal. Matisse's odalisques injected color and sensuality, allowing Picasso to merge Fauvist expressiveness with Cubist multiplicity. Preparatory versions like F, J, and L experiment with these elements incrementally: F's loose Matissean poses, J's ambiguous distortions, and L's stark forms culminate in O's "brilliant synthesis," where fragmented planes vibrate with Matissean hues. This fusion not only mourns Matisse but reaffirms Cubism's vitality, creating a "Herculean effort" to transcend grief through artistic dialogue.

​1955 Mercedes-Benz Uhlenhaut Coupé
​2022 SOLD for € 135M by RM Sotheby's

Two special adaptations of the 3 litre 300 SLR coupé were made by Mercedes-Benz in 1955. Designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut, they are known as the Uhlenhaut coupés. Capable of reaching 290 km/h, this model was the fastest road going car of its time.

Employed by Mercedes-Benz since 1931, Uhlenhaut had been a lead designer of the Silver Arrows, of the Formula One highly successful W196 of JM Fangio fame and of the open top Rennsport 300 SLR of Stirling Moss fame. He was also behind the scene of the Le Mans winner W194 and of the road going 300 SL gullwing.

The Uhlenhaut coupés were assembled as two seaters with gullwing doors on two W196 chassis left unused after the 1955 Le Mans crash and the subsequent withdrawal of the brand from motor sport.

Both prototypes were retained by Mercedes-Benz from new. Uhlenhaut had one as a company car. He once drove the 230 km on the autobahn between Stuttgart and Munich in less than an hour.

The first one is on display in the museum of the brand. The second car was used as a demonstration car and was restored in 1986. It was sold for € 135M on May 5, 2022 by RM Sotheby's in a private auction, lot 1. The proceeds help to create a Mercedes-Benz fund for young researchers in environmental science and carbon dioxide reduction.

Please watch the video shared by the auction house, featuring with the hammer Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe.

The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé is a legendary two-seater sports car from 1955, often hailed as one of the greatest automotive achievements of the 20th century. Named after Rudolf Uhlenhaut, Mercedes-Benz's chief engineer and head of the test department, it was essentially a road-legal adaptation of the dominant 300 SLR race car, which had powered the company to victory in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship. Only two examples were ever built, using surplus parts from the racing program after Mercedes abruptly withdrew from motorsport following the tragic 1955 Le Mans disaster that killed over 80 spectators. Uhlenhaut himself used one as a company car, famously driving it at high speeds on public roads, including a reported top speed exceeding 180 mph (290 km/h).
Its engineering was groundbreaking, drawing directly from the W 196 R Formula One car that won championships in 1954 and 1955. Powered by a 3.0-liter straight-eight engine producing around 310 horsepower, it featured advanced elements like a tubular spaceframe chassis, desmodromic valves, direct fuel injection, and a sleek, gullwing-door body designed for both aerodynamics and practicality. This made it not just a test vehicle but a symbol of Mercedes-Benz's engineering prowess during the post-war era, bridging the gap between racing dominance and road-car innovation. The 300 SLR series, including the open-top racers, secured iconic wins like Stirling Moss's record-setting victory at the 1955 Mille Miglia, cementing Mercedes' reputation for speed, reliability, and technological superiority. The Uhlenhaut Coupé, in particular, represents the "what if" of Mercedes continuing in endurance racing, as it was tested extensively but never competed.
In Mercedes-Benz history, the Uhlenhaut Coupé holds immense significance as a milestone in sports car development and a key artifact of the brand's racing heritage. It embodies the Silver Arrow era's spirit of innovation, where lessons from the track influenced future production models like the 300 SL Gullwing. For decades, both coupés were preserved in the Mercedes-Benz Museum collection, underscoring their role as "holy grails" of automotive history. The car's rarity—being one of just two prototypes—and its direct ties to Uhlenhaut's genius have elevated it to mythic status among collectors and enthusiasts.
In May 2022, one of the two Uhlenhaut Coupés (chassis number 00008/55) was sold at a private auction hosted by RM Sotheby's at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, fetching a record €135 million (approximately $142 million USD) from a private collector. This shattered previous auction records, making it the most expensive car ever sold and highlighting its unparalleled historical value. The proceeds funded the establishment of the Mercedes-Benz Fund, aimed at supporting research in decarbonization and resource conservation. The remaining example stays in Mercedes' collection, ensuring its legacy endures.

​1964 Shot Marilyn by Warhol
2022 SOLD for $ 195M by Christie's

In 1964 Andy Warhol revisits his quintessential Marilyn with a more sophisticated screening process for an increased luminosity and detail. He prepares five paintings 102 x 102 cm each in acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen, with respective red, orange, light blue, sage blue and turquoise backgrounds.

He is still stacking them at The Factory when a woman asks him the authorization to shoot them. She is the friend of the usual photographer of The Factory and Andy accepts. She does not come with a camera but with a revolver and shoots the stack of four at the level of Marilyn's forehead. They are now known as the Shot Marilyns despite being repaired with no evidence left from the hole. The turquoise had been spared. Andy fired the photographer.

Shot Orange was sold for $ 17.3M by Sotheby's on May 14, 1998. It was rumored in December 2017 to have been sold for $ 250M to the financier Kenneth Griffin. Shot Red was sold by Christie's to a Japanese bidder for $ 4M in 1989 and privately acquired by Philip Niarchos in 1994 for a reported $ 3.6M. Shot Light Blue was acquired in 1967 by Peter Brant. Spared from the shot, the Turquoise was rumored in 2007 to have been sold to Steven Cohen for $ 80M.

Coming from the collection of the Ammann dealer brother and sister team, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was sold for $ 195M by Christie's on May 9, 2022, lot 36A.

Response by Grok :

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Christie's @ChristiesInc May 10, 2022
#AuctionUpdate Andy Warhol’s ‘Shot Sage Blue Marilyn’ breaks the #WorldAuctionRecord for the most expensive 20th century work sold at auction; price realized $195 million

  • The "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" by Andy Warhol, sold for $195 million at Christie's in 2022, reflects a 1964 serigraph inspired by a 1953 promotional photo of Marilyn Monroe, marking it as the most expensive 20th-century artwork sold at auction, surpassing previous records like Picasso's works due to its cultural iconography and rarity.
  • This sale price, including a $25 million premium over the initial $170 million bid, highlights the influence of auction house fees and tax structures, with data from Christie's showing that such premiums can account for 15-20% of final prices, challenging the perception that raw bids alone dictate art value.
  • The artwork's creation two years after Monroe's death in 1962 taps into a psychological phenomenon studied in peer-reviewed journals like The Journal of Consumer Research, where scarcity and celebrity association amplify perceived value, suggesting the market's response may be driven more by emotional investment than artistic merit.
The 1964 'Shot Marilyn' series is a technical achievement by Warhol. What is their technical difference from previous examples of the same image ? Was the improved technique reused after that series ?

The 1964 Shot Marilyns series (five 40x40-inch canvases, four of which were famously shot by performance artist Dorothy Podber) represents a refinement in Andy Warhol's silkscreen technique compared to his earlier Marilyn Monroe works from 1962 (such as Gold Marilyn Monroe, the Marilyn Diptych, and related paintings).
Technical Differences
Warhol used the same source image—a publicity photograph from the 1953 film Niagara—for both the 1962 and 1964 series. In the earlier works, he typically applied colored silkscreen inks first (for areas like hair, lips, and eyeshadow), followed by the black outline and facial details. This often resulted in visible misregistration (slight offsets between layers) and a more "assembly-line" or imperfect alignment, aligning with his interest in mechanical reproduction but sometimes showing preliminary impressions or less precise overlaps.
For the 1964 Shot Marilyns, Warhol developed a more refined, time-intensive process that improved registration (alignment of layers). He used a new method involving positive acetate proofs provided by his silkscreen maker, allowing for seamless overlay of colors and the final black screen with virtually no evidence of preliminary impressions in colored areas. The canvases featured hand-painted acrylic backgrounds, over which the facial image was silkscreened in black ink (with some local color integration). This resulted in particularly sharp, beautiful, and precisely aligned images—described by experts (e.g., Christie's catalog and the Warhol Catalogue Raisonné) as a "precise but laborious technique" producing superior visual clarity.
This improvement was considered a technical achievement because it elevated the aesthetic quality while still using silkscreen, though it was more labor-intensive and somewhat counter to Warhol's embrace of quick, chancy mass-production effects.
Reuse in Later Works
Warhol did not widely reuse this improved technique after the 1964 series. Sources (including Christie's descriptions and art historical accounts) note that it was too time-consuming for his Factory-style production ethos, so he abandoned it. He returned to Marilyn in later years (e.g., the 1967 screenprint portfolio of 10 variations and the 1979–86 Reversal series), but those reverted to his standard, faster silkscreen methods with deliberate off-registration and imperfections for an industrial feel. The 1964 Shot Marilyns remain a rare, limited application of this refined approach.

1969 Three Studies of Lucian Freud by Bacon
2013 SOLD for $ 142M by Christie's​

As early as 1944, the triptych is the favorite medium of Bacon. The three perspectives cancel the plane of the canvas to provide to the viewer the mental illusion of a three-dimensional space.

Heads in small sizes often come to auction, but larger works are exceptional. On November 12, 2013, Christie's sold for $ 142M Three Studies of Lucian Freud, three oils on canvas painted in 1969, 198 x 148 cm for each element. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

The two artists have been friends for nearly a quarter of century. Francis is in his George Dyer period and his appeal to Lucian has no reason to be erotic. Always looking for a total empathy with his entourage, Bacon pays tribute to a rival whom he admires. The seating position is gentle, but the colors and deformities of the face express the passions, in front of a strident yellow background.

Bacon locked Freud in a threadlike prism, similar to a squaring but proving his intent of the three-dimensional nature of the triptych. This desire to control his friend is fictional and symbolic because Bacon, as almost every time, worked this triple portrait from photos made by John Deakin.​

Response by Grok :

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Christie's @ChristiesInc Apr 2, 2020
#ThrowbackThursday For almost 30 years, artists #FrancisBacon and #LucianFreud were near-inseparable companions - friends, foils & confidants, they painted each other & pushed each other’s art to new heights. Francis Bacon, 'Three Studies of Lucian Freud’, 1969.

  • The artwork "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" (1969) by Francis Bacon, featured in the post, sold for $142.4 million in 2013, making it one of the most expensive paintings ever auctioned, reflecting Bacon's mastery in capturing psychological depth through distorted figures, as supported by art historian David Sylvester’s interviews with Bacon.
  • Bacon and Lucian Freud’s 30-year friendship, ending in a mysterious falling-out in the 1970s, fueled mutual artistic influence, with Freud’s rigorous life studies contrasting Bacon’s expressive distortions, a dynamic explored in the 2022 Konbini article on their evolving styles.
  • The triptych format echoes Bacon’s fascination with movement and isolation, possibly influenced by his wartime experiences and Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies, offering a visual narrative of Freud that challenges traditional portraiture conventions.