The American newspaper, NY Post has revealed the identity of the mystery seller of a 100 million dollar sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, entitled “Chariot” which will be auctioned this week.
Sotherby’s auction house has not made any official statements regarding the name of the mysterious seller, only noting that the item “has been in the same distinguished private collection for more than four decades.”
However, NY Post journalist Richard Johnson claims that Aleko Goulandris of the famous Greek shipping dynasty, is the mysterious seller.
“My source says, Goulandris bought the 1950 bronze of a goddess between two large wheels in 1972 for $375,000. That sum doesn’t sound like much, but Upper East Side townhouses were going for less in those days, too,” the journalist wrote.
Meanwhile, Simon Shaw from Sotheby’s, is trying to assess the value of this sculpture: ““Given the $104.3 million achieved at Sotheby’s by Giacometti’s ‘Homme qui marche I’ in 2010, we believe that ‘Chariot’ could sell for in excess of $100 million.”
According to NY Post, Goulandris is not satisfied with the price of 100 million dollars.
The Goulandris family has a special relationship with art. “A niece of the late Basil Goulandris is suing over the disappearance of 83 paintings she claims were part of her inheritance — including works by Picasso, van Gogh, Renoir and Monet,” said Johnson. However, the family still holds many works of art and have already started work on establishing a Goulandris Museum in Athens.
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