A brass sculpture portraying American writer and heiress Nancy Cunard made by Romanian-born Constantin Brancusi sold for 71 million dollars at Christie’s auction house.
A bronze portrait of American heiress and political activist Nancy Cunard sculpted by Romanian-born French artist Constantin Brancusi went under the hammer on Tuesday at Christie’s in New York, and was sold for 71 million dollars.
The sculpture, tited La jeune fille sophistiquée, was formerly owned by Elizabeth and Frederick Stafford, who acquired it in 1955 for $5,000 directly from Brancusi’s studio in Paris.
According to Christie’s, the piece has been over the years on display in museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, and the Georges Pompidou Centre.
The sculpture was valued at over $70 million.
Another bronze cast signed by Brancusi was sold in 2017 for $57.36 million. La muse endormie had been valued at $20-30 million, but was sold for double the amount.
In 2009, Brancusi’s Madame LR (Portrait de Mme LR) was sold for $37.6 million at Christie’s Paris.
Brancusi, who was born in 1876 in the village of Hobita, in south-west Romania, and died in 1957 in Paris, was one of the most acclaimed sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of Modernism.
Romania this year is set to re-submit an application for UNESCO to include an 80-year-old sculptural ensemble by Brancusi in its world patrimony, two years after the first application had to be withdrawn due to mistakes in the documentation.
For more read the full of article at The Balkaninsight
