October 13, 2017, 00:15 / Opinions

How much is Leonardo da Vinci worth?

"Savior of the World" is up for auction

The news that Christie's auction house is putting up for auction the only privately owned painting by Leonardo da Vinci is a sensation only for a public very far from the art market, not at all interested in scandalous trials and the lives of the new rich. People who are at least knowledgeable in such matters are unlikely to share the organizers’ pathos regarding the expected event. Although the work of the most important artist of all time is actually being sold and it depicts the most important god-man for the entire baptized world. The auction house does not name the real owner of the “Savior of the World,” although it is no secret that it is Dmitry Rybolovlev.

The billionaire is engaged in a long process with Yves Bouvier, who helped him collect a collection of super-expensive masterpieces (in the full sense of the word), but regularly engaged in deception. According to Rybolovlev, Bouvier bought da Vinci’s painting through Sotheby’s for $80 million, and sold it to him for $127.5 million. And these figures, repeated many times in the press, are widely known. Recently, Rybolovlev has already sold several outstanding works from his collection, and all for amounts less than he bought them. Obviously, money was needed, but there is an opinion that it was as proof of the machinations of the former assistant.

Dmitry Rybolovlev sells a painting by Leonardo da Vinci for $100 million

Lifestyle/Culture

A reverent art lover may be upset and even outraged by the preliminary price for “Savior of the World,” which is $100 million. After all, just this year, at an auction, a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, painted not 500, but 35 years ago, was sold for more than $110 million, and it depicts an unknown face, roughly, without any Leonardian fog in the eyes. But for the market, nothing is sacred except money. Works of art are worth as much as they are given for them. But there is no such demand for the works of old masters as for the impressionists, modernists and contemporary artists who surpass them in price.

“Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci, paradoxically, is exhibited at the New York auction of modern and post-war art. “The Last Supper” by Andy Warhol, who used the image of Leonardo’s textbook fresco, will also be sold there; it is valued at $50 million.

But “Salvator Mundi” is in a sense a new painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It was recognized as belonging to the brush of a genius only a few years ago. Its authenticity has been confirmed by many experts (Christie's provides an impressive list of them), but the knowledge that back in 1958 it was sold for 45 pounds as an unsuccessful work by one of da Vinci's students cannot help but affect the enthusiasm of buyers.