August 21, 2006
The Mystery of the $95 Million Picasso Bidder
New York magazine gets investigative on the unknown man who shocked the art world by bidding $95 million for Picasso's Dora Maar with black cat in May. The day after the man bought the painting, people guessed he was an auction novice, since he was "unsophisticated" with the bidding paddle. Well, in the New York story, more of the art world snobbery comes through:
In the gala atmosphere that now pervades the major evening auctions, the man seemed an odd figure. “He looked more like a KGB agent than a collector,” recalls art dealer Laszlo von Vertes, who sat directly behind him. “His nose looked broken, like a boxer’s. He had dyed hair and cheap shoes, like a bodyguard. If he walked into my gallery, I wouldn’t have sold him a painting.”When they make a movie out of this auction, there will totally be a scene straight out of Pretty Woman where the shabbily dressed billionaire tells snotty art dealers he could have bought their paintings, but because they were mean, nyet. The buyer might be a Russian billionaire, since people described him as "sounding Russian," or might not be, as writer Marc Spiegler comes across many possibilities.
What's funny is how the art world has been trying to figure out who the buyer is, based on a tiny picture. Now we wonder if the high-powered art dealers will try to woo odd looking characters at auctions. Where better to start than this fall's Star Trek auction at Christie's?
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95 million?
Okay, the funny thing about your post is that I've been predicting the Star Trek auction could go pretty crazy, precisely because - like the Russian buyers - many potential bidders combine a rabid fervor for the material at auction with a rapidly increasing wealth.
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