leonardo da vinci paintings net worth
Cole was the first to report, in March 2020, the existence of a 46-page booklet the Louvre prepared for publication but never released, which asserts that the piece is an authentic Leonardo. TINDERA: Slicing up and selling off a beautiful manuscript or book is not without precedent, though, Robert explained to us. Mona Lisa. According to the provenance in the auction catalogue, a few Italian artists own the Codex after da Vinci's death, including a painter named Giuseppe Ghezzi, who apparently sold it in 1717 to Thomas Coke, a man who eventually became England's Earl of Leicester. So, they decided to hold an auction through Christie's, and it took place in London in December 1980. That sold for $3.6 million at Sotheby's in New York in 1986. [note 1] Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the painting was sold. A New York Times story on the sale remarked that it was the highest price ever paid at auction for a manuscript. TINDERA: Right. Rybolovlev resold Gauguin's Otahi before 2017 for less than $50 million. Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, military engineer and draftsman the epitome of a true Renaissance man. This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. French President Emmanuel Macron pictured in 2018 with the owner of the Leonardo, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (Credit: Photo by Bandar Algaloud/Getty Images), "The Louvre is supported by the government, the ministry of culture and ultimately Macron," Cole tells BBC Culture. He had just gotten married to Melinda Gates on New Year's Day of that year and was in the middle of building his multi-million-dollar mega mansion, Xanadu 2.0. Nonetheless, the exhibition went a long way toward legitimising a shaky attribution. Bouviers mark-up led to Rybolovlevs criminal complaint in a Mongasque court, alleging a scheme for overcharging him. Re-sold for 12m to Stavros Niarchos in 1993. At that time this was the 4th highest (unadjusted) price at auction and 10th highest price on this list. The work of Leonardo is just as influential to the art that is being created today as it was in the 15th and 16th centuries, he said. But there would, there are people in the world that would probably do that. Leonardos gracious but reserved personality and elegant bearing were well-received in court circles. In 1982, he appeared on our list with an estimated net worth of $150 million. CLIP OF BILL GATES: Taking Leonardo's notebook and translating them so everybody can understand the way that da Vinci thought a little better than before is very important. As everyone who does not live in utter isolation knows, a painting of Christ known as the "Salvator Mundi" ("Savior of the World") by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci was. TINDERA: Hypothetically though, Simon explained that our logic of taking one drawing and reviewing the sale price of that to extrapolate what a whole manuscript filled with drawings might be worth was something he considered in his own appraisal. The collector acquired it from Bouvier for $127m, who had in turn acquired it from Sothebys in a private sale in 2013 for about $50m less. Oprah Winfrey had bought the painting in November 2006 at Christie's for nearly $88 million. A tempera and oil mural on plaster, "The Last Supper" was created for the refectory . On July 12, 2011, $75M was equivalent to 53M. This means the Codex is certainly one of the world's most valuable pieces of art. The Christie's sale itself was a highly staged drama, beginning with a marketing video that showed not the painting but the faces of observers most are ordinary people but one of them is Leonardo DiCaprio looking reverently at the image as if they were seeing Christ himself. CHASE PETERSON-WITHORN: Hi, Michela. "When we chose the title," Andreas Dalsgaard, a producer and a writer of The Lost Leonardo, tells BBC Culture, "the inspiration was partly that the painting is lost right now and the truth is lost, but it was also inspired by movies like the Indiana Jones movies that are full of treasures and treasure hunts.". Knowingly or not? And so, the first place we looked were the auction records for the Codex from the 1980 and the 1994 sales. I've worked as well as an art appraiser. The paintings transferred to the dealers include a late, Alan Bond could not pay off the painting, and. TINDERA: Simon also included another work by da Vinci: a sheet of studies including sketches of a child embracing a lamb. TINDERA: Now the audience in the room doesnt know this, but a representative for Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates is bidding on the phone. Thanks for having me. In 1993, Simon was hired by the trustees of the Armand Hammer Museum to do an appraisal of the Codex back when it was known as the Codex Hammer. I'm going to show it all over the world.. The original one is now located at Muse du Louvre, Paris. During this period Leonardo worked on a grandiose sculptural project that seems to have been the real reason he was invited to Milan: a monumental equestrian statue in bronze to be erected in honour of Francesco Sforza, the founder of the Sforza dynasty. Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci. Love film and TV? [6] Though the Louvre Museum had turned down the opportunity to purchase it for 100 million,[7] the painting was estimated to sell for $110 to $170 million. Pierre-Auguste Renoir "Bal du moulin de la Galette" (1876): $154.7 million 6. The painting disappeared from 1763 until 1900, when it was bought by Sir Charles Robinson as a work by Bernardino Luini, a follower of Leonardo. The Met has since returned the coffin to Egypt. We asked Robert, if the Codex if it went up for sale again, could it compete with the Mundi's price? Art restorer Dianne Modestini in a scene from The Lost Leonardo, one of two new documentaries about the Salvator Mundi (Credit: Sony Pictures Classics/Entertainment Pictures). DETAILS BELOW Leonardo da Vinci (born April 15, 1452) is famous for being painter. Joining me for this is Chase Peterson-Withorn, an editor on the Forbes wealth team. Despite the excitement over the sale of the only Leonardo in private hands queues of people had formed around Rockefeller Center in New York to see the canvas many in the art world had wondered if the piece would find a buyer. It was first unveiled to the public at the National Gallery in London in 2011. But he went even beyond that. At 18 million in this room. However, we should probably note that it seems unlikely that as the owner of the Codex, Gates would actually do this. But Christie's declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Gates never responded to our questions. Exact price (even the currency of sale) is not known, with estimates from $250 million to $300 million, Within weeks after a private viewing in Vienna in September 2012, Rybolovlev agreed to pay $183.8 million via his dealer Bouvier. The sale of Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers was the first time a "modern" (in this case 1888) painting became the record holder, as opposed to the old master paintings which previously had dominated the market. Life of Leonardo da Vinci, a Short Biography 1. When Leonardo was about 15, his father, who enjoyed a high reputation in the Florentine community, apprenticed him to artist Andrea del Verrocchio. If all we do is adjust the $30.8 million that Gates paid for it for inflation, that gets us to somewhere around $50 million today. On the last telephone, 18 million. Nonetheless, Leonardos notebooks reveal a sharp intellect, and his contributions to art, including methods of representing space, three-dimensional objects, and the human figure, cannot be overstated. If one drawing sold for $12 million, that would mean that he could sell off this whole book clipped to pieces and earn something like $4 billion. What by Leonardo can we compare it with? We also spoke with Stephen Massey, who we heard at the beginning of this episode. Two years later, some colourful characters entered the game. The quality of the painting itself divides people. Kenneth Griffin acquired it in 2004 from Wynn. Billionaires just live in a different world. Oil tycoon Armand Hammer bought it that year, and 14 years later, Gates bought it at another auction. TINDERA: On sale is a one-of-a kind Leonardo da Vinci manuscript known as the Codex Hammer. In total, Christies said, 27,000 people had seen the work on a pre-sale tour with stops in Hong Kong, London and San Francisco. And it was a challenge. But one key difference between my version and the one Bill Gates owns is that while my version is bound in the middle, like any typical hardcover book, every page of the original Codex Leicester is held in glass to make it easier to view all the pages. All episodes of the Art Bust podcast are available now. Robert Simon told us that he thought it would not sell for less than $150 million. The disciples, devastated by Christ stating one of them would cause his death, convey their feelings dramatically through their body language. He also worked in the next-door workshop of artist Antonio Pollaiuolo. TINDERA: Right. Apparently, Hammer had made a habit of buying things with Occidental Petroleum money. But one tries to lay out in a rational way, why one has a higher value than the other, why one has a lesser market appeal, and then try from that to come up with a single value. The painting was sold in November 2017,[1][2] through the auction house Christie's in New York City. At $28 million it's away from the room now and on the telephone at $28 million. Unless new documentation surfaces (unlikely after all these centuries), or a new scientific method of authentication arrives (also tricky because the work has been so damaged), the mystery may prove eternal. The series is full of conspiracy theories about the never-solved robbery. In contrast, there are currently only nine pre-1875 paintings among the listed top 89, and none created between 1635 and 1874. And so I think it's, you know, not so much, Let's look at it and see what would happen if we took scissors to it and divided it up. But just to say, Here we have something of such significance, partly because it has survived 500 years without, you know, being destroyed.. PETERSON-WITHORN: And in fact, that fall he had just appeared atop our Forbes 400 ranking of the richest Americans, with an estimated net worth of $9.35 billion. CBS CLIP, CONNIE CHUNG: You know, you may be the richest man in America, or at least the second-richest man in America. TINDERA: But admittedly, Darren told us that he wasn't a da Vinci, or Codex expert and was hesitant to put a value on it out of the gate. PETERSON-WITHORN: Art is one of the toughest things we value for our lists, because the value is just so subjective, and you really don't know what something will sell for until it hits the auction block. He's the head of the Books, Maps and Manuscripts department at Freeman's Auction House in Philadelphia. Twenty-eight million. Four hundred million selling here at Christies. Here's how much the artwork is worth! The ensuing war left the clay model a heap of ruins. The buyer was anonymous, but the New York Times soon revealed him to be acting for bin Salman, a discovery that catapulted the painting into the geopolitical realm. This possibly-Leonardo treasure's route to fame began when it surfaced at an obscure New Orleans auction house in 2005 and was bought by two New York dealers for a measly $1,175. As a master artist, Leonardo maintained an extensive workshop in Milan, employing apprentices and students. Quiz: Ancient Illustrations Showing Us the Way, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonardo-da-Vinci, Social Studies for Kids - Biography of Leonardo da Vinci, Humanities LibreTexts - Leonardo da Vinci, Art Encyclopedia - Biography of Leonardo Da Vinci, University of California Museum of Paleontology - Biography of Leonardo da Vinci, Web Gallery of Art - Biography of Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo da Vinci - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Leonardo da Vinci - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Art and accomplishment: Leonardo as artist-scientist, Art and accomplishment: Painting and drawing. Leonardo da Vinci not only developed his skill in drawing, painting and sculpting during his apprenticeship, but through others working in and around the studio, he picked up knowledge in such diverse fields as mechanics, carpentry, metallurgy, architectural drafting and chemistry. In the days leading up the the sale, Christies produced a video of celebrities viewing the work, among them Leonardo DiCaprio and Patti Smith. He currently resides in Vinci, Italy. It looks interesting. And trying to balance them And of course, one of the things in doing an appraisal like this is you just don't put them in a mix, whatever. Christie's billed the painting as an original work by Leonardo da Vinci himself. So, we reached out to Martin Kemp, who is another da Vinci scholar, and an Oxford University emeritus professor. The Return to Italy - the Mona Lisa disappeared from the Louvre Museum in 1911. Simon's connection to the painting is that back in 2005, he and a colleague actually sort of rediscovered the painting, which was in terrible condition. CLIP OF BILL GATES: So here, you're just seeing the page exactly as it looked to da Vinci. Many factors seem to have converged to create this flourishing moment for true art crime. He was also frequently consulted as a technical adviser in the fields of architecture, fortifications, and military matters, and he served as a hydraulic and mechanical engineer. Still, it was a record-breaking event. 1 for US$44.4 million (equivalent to US$50.8million in 2021). So, you know, it's something I've sort of been following for, you know, a good part of my life. The sale of Salvator Mundi, which was painted around 1500 and presumed lost until early this century, was Rybolovlevs largest to date. So if Saudi Arabia decides that culture is going to be the way it opens up and the Salvator Mundi is going to be a key player in that strategy and the Louvre is offering to exhibit it, then all those things are tied up together.". When asked whether Salvator Mundis involvement in the Rybolovlev-Bouvier case might overshadow its sale, Christies postwar and contemporary chairman, Loc Gouzer, who secured the work with a $100m guarantee, said: We cannot comment about sellers, but it has every passport, every visa.. So, in discussing what the Codex might be worth today, Robert Simon brought up a recent sale of a da Vinci, which was of a teeny, tiny three-inch by three-inch drawing of a bear's head, which sold in July of this year for $12 million. His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of their time. Christies sells long-lost Salvator Mundi, artwork billed as biggest discovery of the 21st century, for $400m plus auction house premium. There's also something called primacy, which is being the first. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Veiled in layers of mystery and international intrigue, the story of the Salvator Mundi is an ongoing, endlessly fascinating saga, told in two new documentaries, The Lost Leonardo and Saviour for Sale: Da Vinci's Lost Masterpiece?, which play out with all the drama and suspense of a detective story. Six-million five hundred thousand, seven million. But some have said that's because he was left-handed, and he didnt want his ink to smear. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is one of the most intriguing personalities in the history of Western art. The film doesn't take a stand on the painting's attribution, but makes it clear that museums, dealers and potential buyers had millions to gain along with incalculable prestige by choosing to believe it is a true Leonardo. SIMON: The Codex is something that for most of the year, let's say you have to keep it under lock and key and out of the light. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. A scene from Saviour for Sale, a second documentary about the Salvator Mundi, by French journalist Antoine Vitkine (Credit: Zadig Productions). The artwork alone garners thousands of visitors from around the world to the famous gallery it is placed in - the . Most observers agree that it is likely stashed in the Middle East, but some have speculated that it is stored in a tax-free zone in Geneva or even on the Prince's half-a-billion-dollar yacht. During his second period in Florence (1500-1508), he painted his most famous work, the Mona Lisa (ca. The only non-Western modern artwork listed is that of the Chinese-French painter Zao Wouki's oil painting Juin-Octobre 1985, which was sold for $65 million in 2018. MASSEY: Twenty-five million, twenty-six million. He needed to do that because in order to pay the inheritance taxes on a previous Earl of Leicester, who died in 1976, they needed to sell off some stuff. 7 | The Macklowe Collection | | Sotheby", "Sale Offers a Reason for Relief at Sotheby's", "Ming Dynasty Scroll Sells for Record $77 Million at Auction", The Collection of Eleanore and Daniel Saidenberg, Francis Bacon (19091992) Portrait of George Dyer Talking, Francis Bacon Work Sells for $70 Million at Christies Auction, "sGallery: A Gauguin and a van Gogh Change Hands", Andy Warhol's "Four Marlons" auction results, "Magritte 'Masterpiece' Sells for Record-Breaking $79.8 M. During Sotheby's Sale", "China auction sees Qi Baishi painting sell for $65m", "The buyer of 422.5 Million Qi Baishi painting revealed", "What Are The Top 10 Al-Thani Family Art Acquisitions? TINDERA: Simon talked about how there have been a certain subset of book dealers called "breakers," who made it their job to buy books and then tear them apart, selling their illustrated pages piece by piece. TINDERA: Hammer is also the great-grandfather of Hollywood actor Armie Hammer. His father, Ser Piero, was a Florentine notary and landlord, and his mother, Caterina, was a young peasant woman who shortly thereafter married an artisan. The Battle of Anghiari by Leonardo da Vinci. The winning bidder would later be revealed to be Saudi Arabia's Prince. We reported that same year that Gates envied his friend Warren Buffett, because he had more time to spend reading than Gates did. In this period, he painted very little and instead focused on his scientific activity, specifically his study of anatomy. Earlier this summer, very fittingly, as the country's oldest auction house, they sold a copy of the Declaration of Independence for $4.4 million. The Wikipedia template uses a yearly average inflation. The earliest sale on the list below (Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh) is from March 1987; with a price of 24.75 million (74.1 million in 2021 currency). The first is da Vinci's "The Last Supper," painted during his time in Milan, from about 1495 to 1498. SIMON: My feeling was that the Codex was quite a bit more valuable than any single drawing would be. According to some sources, the painting had been sold by Argentinian art collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier for $300 million,[9] but the price was not confirmed by any of the parties involved.[10]. TINDERA: That's Darren Winston. $450 million That price more than doubled the. And we're going to show you how we narrowed that range to settle on one number. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. Using monthly averages gives slightly different numbers, most significantly for paintings sold early or late in a year with significant inflation. SIMON: These went into the mix. TINDERA: That's right. The figure more than doubles the existing record for an artwork sold at auction: a $179.4 million bid for a Picasso in 2015. Usually estimated at "over 50 M" or "between 50 and 60 million Euros". Gifted with a curious mind and a brilliant. [3] So that was kind of the basic first principle. TINDERA: That's Gates talking for a video posted on his blog a few years ago, around the time that he exhibited the Codex Leicester in some museums in Europe. [13][14], Among the listed top 89, only six are paintings by non-Western artists. PETERSON-WITHORN: The person who ended up winning the auction was Armand Hammer, the 82-year-old multimillionaire chairman of oil and gas giant Occidental Petroleum. Guinness World Records lists Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa as having the highest ever insurance value for a painting. The Virgin and Child with St Anne by Leonardo da Vinci. There are more and more platforms for telling stories. SIMON: What it does is make you realize how important the fact that the Codex has survived intact is.