Displaying items by tag: patina

In another sign of the market’s bubbling strength, Christie’s announced it will offer Alberto Giacometti’s life-size bronze “Pointing Man (L’Homme au Doigt)” from 1947 on May 11 in New York, along with an unpublished estimate in the record-breaking region of $130 million. Of the six works in the famed edition, as well as one artist proof, this example is believed to be the only one that is hand-painted by the artist. Five of the six in the edition are tucked away in museums or private foundations, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Modern in London. Only two are left in private hands.

“Pointing Man,” standing 69 7/8 inches tall and bearing a crusty patina, as if charred by the horrific aftermath of the Second World War, reaches out with his spindly right arm, while his left remains raised at shoulder height, as a fencer might guardedly stand before an opponent.

Over two dozen sculptures by Fernando Botero are being restored in the artist’s hometown of Medellin, Colombia. The 27 works, which are situated in public places such as parks and streets, are beginning to show signs of weather damage and vandalism. Chewing gum, graffiti, dents and scratches mar the bronze figurative works’ once-radiant patina.

Maria Adelaida Bohorquez, a restorer at the Museum de Antioquia, the institution that owns most of the sculptures, believes that many of the unsightly damages can be fixed thanks to a labor-intensive restoration effort that is schedule to reach completion by the end of the year. Bohorquez added, “The sculptures will have the tone they did originally.”

Botero, who gave the project his blessing, has donated approximately 200 paintings and sculptures to Medellin as well as many others to the Botero Museum in Bogota.