''L'Homme au doigt'' (, "The Man with the Finger"; also called ''Pointing Man'' or ''Man Pointing'') is a 1947 bronze sculpture by

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced ...

, that became the most expensive sculpture ever when it sold for US$141.3 million on May 11, 2015. It was later revealed to be owned by New York Mets owner and billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen. Giacometti made six casts of the work plus one artist's proof. ''Pointing Man'' is in the collections of New York's

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, London's

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

museums, the

Des Moines Art Center The Des Moines Art Center is an art museum with an extensive collection of paintings, sculpture, modern art and mixed media. It was established in 1948 in Des Moines, Iowa. History The Art Center traces its roots to 1916, when the Des Moines A ...

, and

Glenstone Glenstone is a private Contemporary art, contemporary art museum in Potomac, Maryland, founded in 2006 by American billionaire Mitchell Rales and his wife, Emily Wei Rales. The museum's exhibitions are drawn from a collection of about 1,300 works ...

. One of the others is also in a museum, and the rest are in foundation collections or owned privately. ''L’homme au doigt'' sold for $126 million, or $141.3 million with fees, in Christie's 11 May 2015 ''Looking Forward to the Past'' sale in New York, a record for a sculpture at auction. The work had been in

Sheldon Solow Sheldon Henry Solow (July 20, 1928November 17, 2020) was an American real estate developer and art collector who lived and worked in New York City. In August 2020, he had a net worth of $4.4 billion. Early life Solow was born and raised in ...

's private collection for 45 years. According to Giacometti, he created the sculpture in a time crunch for a show's deadline, describing it being made “in one night between midnight and nine the next morning”. Christie's called it a "rare masterpiece", and "Giacometti’s most iconic and evocative sculpture", and estimated that it would sell "in the region of $130 million". Christie's also noted that the cast in their auction is believed to be the only one that Giacometti "painted by hand in order to heighten its expressive impact". Another Giacometti work, ''

L'Homme qui marche I ''L’Homme qui marche I'' ( ''The Walking Man I'' or ''The Striding Man I'', ) is the name of any one of the cast bronze sculptures that comprise six numbered editions plus four artist proofs created by Switzerland, Swiss sculptor Alberto ...

'', had also been the most expensive sculpture ever sold at auction, when it sold for £65 million (US$104.3 million) at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

, London on 3 February 2010.

Description

''L'Homme au doigt'' is a bronze sculpture depicting a slender figure measuring nearly tall with its index finger extending. This is also called the pointing man.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Homme au doigt Sculptures by Alberto Giacometti 1947 sculptures Bronze sculptures Sculptures in the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) Sculptures in the Tate galleries Bronze sculptures in New York City Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom 2015 in art

Description

See also

References