Stradivari violin made in 1714 sells for $11.3M
A violin made in 1714 by the legendary luthier Antonio Stradivari sold for $11.3 million at an auction in New York on Friday, short of estimates that would have made it the most expensive instrument ever sold.
Sotheby's auction house had estimated that the "Joachim-Ma Stradivarius" violin could sell for between $12 million and $18 million, with the higher end of the range potentially eclipsing the record-breaking $15.9 million someone paid for another Stradivari violin at auction more than a decade ago.
The "Joachim-Ma Stradivarius" is regarded as one of Stradivari's best works, built during his "Golden Period" at the height of his craftsmanship and acoustic mastery, according to the auction house.
Adding to the intrigue, the violin is believed to have influenced legendary composer Johannes Brahms when he wrote the famed "Violin Concerto in D Major" and was actually played during the concerto's 1879 premiere.
"This extraordinary violin represents the pinnacle of craftsmanship and classical music history, its unparalleled sound and storied provenance captivating collectors and musicians alike," Mari-Claudia Jimenez, chair at Sotheby's. "The Joachim-Ma Stradivarius garnered global attention, achieving one of the highest prices ever for a musical instrument — an acknowledgment of its rarity and historical importance."
$2M increase in seconds
Bidding at Sotheby's began at $8 million and within seconds shot up to $10 million, as auctioneer Phyllis Kao scanned the room, looking for someone to put up $10.5 million.
"Am I selling? At $10 million," she said, looking to potential bidders.
The room was quiet.
"Last chance, at $10 million," she said. "I can sell, and I will, at $10 million, unless you go on."
"Sold. $10 million," she said, banging a gavel.
The final price includes auction house fees.
Sale funds scholarships
The name of the instrument comes from two of its famous violin virtuoso owners, Joseph Joachim of Hungary and Si-Hon Ma of China. Ma's estate gifted the violin to the New England Conservatory in Boston after his death.
The conservatory will use the proceeds to fund student scholarships.
"The sale is transformational for future students, and proceeds will establish the largest named endowed scholarship at New England Conservatory," said Andrea Kalyn, president of New England Conservatory. "It has been an honor to have the Joachim-Ma Stradivari on campus, and we are eager to watch its legacy continue on the world stage."
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Voice of America
08-02-2025
- Voice of America
Stradivari violin made in 1714 sells for $11.3M
A violin made in 1714 by the legendary luthier Antonio Stradivari sold for $11.3 million at an auction in New York on Friday, short of estimates that would have made it the most expensive instrument ever sold. Sotheby's auction house had estimated that the "Joachim-Ma Stradivarius" violin could sell for between $12 million and $18 million, with the higher end of the range potentially eclipsing the record-breaking $15.9 million someone paid for another Stradivari violin at auction more than a decade ago. The "Joachim-Ma Stradivarius" is regarded as one of Stradivari's best works, built during his "Golden Period" at the height of his craftsmanship and acoustic mastery, according to the auction house. Adding to the intrigue, the violin is believed to have influenced legendary composer Johannes Brahms when he wrote the famed "Violin Concerto in D Major" and was actually played during the concerto's 1879 premiere. "This extraordinary violin represents the pinnacle of craftsmanship and classical music history, its unparalleled sound and storied provenance captivating collectors and musicians alike," Mari-Claudia Jimenez, chair at Sotheby's. "The Joachim-Ma Stradivarius garnered global attention, achieving one of the highest prices ever for a musical instrument — an acknowledgment of its rarity and historical importance." $2M increase in seconds Bidding at Sotheby's began at $8 million and within seconds shot up to $10 million, as auctioneer Phyllis Kao scanned the room, looking for someone to put up $10.5 million. "Am I selling? At $10 million," she said, looking to potential bidders. The room was quiet. "Last chance, at $10 million," she said. "I can sell, and I will, at $10 million, unless you go on." "Sold. $10 million," she said, banging a gavel. The final price includes auction house fees. Sale funds scholarships The name of the instrument comes from two of its famous violin virtuoso owners, Joseph Joachim of Hungary and Si-Hon Ma of China. Ma's estate gifted the violin to the New England Conservatory in Boston after his death. The conservatory will use the proceeds to fund student scholarships. "The sale is transformational for future students, and proceeds will establish the largest named endowed scholarship at New England Conservatory," said Andrea Kalyn, president of New England Conservatory. "It has been an honor to have the Joachim-Ma Stradivari on campus, and we are eager to watch its legacy continue on the world stage."
Voice of America
24-11-2024
- Voice of America
How a viral, duct-taped banana came to be worth $6.2 million
Walk into any supermarket and you can generally buy a banana for less than $1. But a banana duct-taped to a wall? That sold for $6.2 million at an auction at Sotheby's in New York. The yellow banana fixed to the white wall with silver duct tape is a work entitled "Comedian," by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It first debuted in 2019 as an edition of three fruits at the Art Basel Miami Beach fair, where it became a much-discussed sensation. Was it a prank? A commentary on the state of the art world? Another artist took the banana off the wall and ate it. A backup banana was brought in. Selfie-seeking crowds became so thick, "Comedian" was withdrawn from view, but three editions of it sold for between $120,000 and $150,000, according to Perrotin gallery. Five years later, someone has now paid more than 40 times that higher price point at the Sotheby's auction. Or, more accurately, they have purchased a certificate of authenticity that gives them the authority to duct-tape a banana to a wall and call it 'Comedian.' Bidding started at $800,000 and within minutes shot up to $2 million, then $3 million, then $4 million, as the auctioneer joked, 'It's slipping through the auction room.' The final hammer price announced in the room Wednesday was $5.2 million, which didn't include the about $1 million in auction house fees, paid by the buyer. Sotheby's calls Cattelan 'among Contemporary Art's most brilliant provocateurs.' 'He has persistently disrupted the art world's status quo in meaningful, irreverent, and often controversial ways,' the auction house said in a description of 'Comedian.' "What Cattelan is really doing is turning a mirror to the contemporary art world and asking questions, provoking thought about how we ascribe value to artworks, what we define as an artwork," Galperin said. The banana that was on display in Miami is long gone. Sotheby's says the fruit always was meant to be replaced regularly, along with the tape. "What you buy when you buy Cattelan's 'Comedian' is not the banana itself, but a certificate of authenticity that grants the owner the permission and authority to reproduce this banana and duct tape on their wall as an original artwork by Maurizio Cattelan," Galperin said. The very title of the piece suggests Cattelan himself likely didn't intend for it to be taken seriously. But Chloé Cooper Jones, an associate professor at the Columbia University School of the Arts, said it is worth thinking about the context. Cattelan premiered the work at an art fair, visited by well-off art collectors, where "Comedian" was sure to get a lot of attention on social media. That might mean the art constituted a dare, of sorts, to the collectors to invest in something absurd, she said. If "Comedian" is just a tool for understanding the insular, capitalist, art-collecting world, Cooper Jones said, "it's not that interesting of an idea." But she thinks it might go beyond poking fun at rich people. Cattelan is often thought of as a "trickster artist," she said. "But his work is often at the intersection of the sort of humor and the deeply macabre. He's quite often looking at ways of provoking us, not just for the sake of provocation, but to ask us to look into some of the sort of darkest parts of history and of ourselves." And there is a dark side to the banana, a fruit with a history entangled with imperialism, labor exploitation and corporate power. "It would be hard to come up with a better, simple symbol of global trade and all of its exploitations than the banana," Cooper Jones said. If "Comedian" is about making people think about their moral complicity in the production of objects they take for granted, then it's "at least a more useful tool or it's at least an additional sort of place to go in terms of the questions that this work could be asking," she said. "Comedian" hits the block around the same time that Sotheby's is also auctioning one of the famed paintings in the "Water Lilies" series by the French impressionist Claude Monet, with an expected value of around $60 million. When asked to compare Cattelan's banana to a classic like Monet's "Nymphéas," Galperin says impressionism was not considered art when the movement began. "No important, profound, meaningful artwork of the past 100 years or 200 years, or our history for that matter, did not provoke some kind of discomfort when it was first unveiled," Galperin said.
Voice of America
21-11-2024
- Voice of America
Italian Artist's Banana Artwork Sells for $6.2 Million
A much-publicized art piece made up of a single banana taped to a wall has sold for $6.2 million. The sale happened Wednesday night during an auction in New York City at famous art seller Sotheby's. The work, called Comedian, was sold to cryptocurrency businessman Justin Sun. He is a Chinese collector and founder of the cryptocurrency company Tron. Sun placed the winning bid over the phone and the sale was completed in cryptocurrency. Before the auction, Sotheby's said the unusual art piece was expected to bring in at least $1.5 million. But the price quickly started rising after the auction began, with people bidding inside the auction room, as well as on the phone and online. The art piece had already sold three times for prices between $120,000 and $150,000, The Associated Press reported. Sun said in a statement after the auction that Comedian "is not just an artwork." He added that the piece "bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community.' Sun said he planned to eat the banana, as at least two onlookers did when the artwork was presented at places around the world. Sotheby's says the fruit was always meant to be replaced repeatedly, along with the duct tape. The work was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It was first presented in 2019 at the Art Basel Miami Beach show in Miami, Florida. The piece quickly led to much public discussion about what should be considered art. Comedian belongs to a kind of art known as conceptual artwork. A conceptual piece is one in which the idea or meaning behind the work is more important than the finished object itself. The head of contemporary art at Sotheby's is David Galperin. He told the AP he understands the piece's popularity because it is highly provocative. Provocative describes something likely to produce a strong reaction and much public debate. 'What Cattelan is really doing is turning a mirror to the contemporary art world,' Galperin said. He added that he thinks Comedian can cause people to question what values should be attached to artworks and what can be defined as artwork. 'What you buy when you buy Cattelan's Comedian is not the banana itself, but a certificate of authenticity,' Galperin said. That document, he added, gives the owner permission to reproduce the banana and duct tape on their own wall as an original artwork by the artist. The sale of Comedian came shortly after Sotheby's auctioned off a famed artwork in the Water Lilies series by French painter Claude Monet. That piece sold on Monday for $65.5 million. When asked to compare Cattelan's simple wall art to major works like Monet's, Galperin said that form of art, called impressionism, was not taken seriously when that movement first began. 'No important, profound, meaningful artwork of the past 100 years or 200 years, or our history for that matter, did not provoke some kind of discomfort when it was first unveiled,' Galperin said. I'm Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. _____________________________________________ Words in This Story auction - n. a public sale at which things are sold to the people who offer to pay the most comedian – n. a person who performs in front of an audience and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting in a way that is funny bid – v. to offer to pay a particular amount of money for something meme – n. an idea, image, video, etc. that spreads very quickly on the internet duct tape – n. a very strong tape that is often used to cover holes and other repair jobs mirror – n. a piece of glass with a shiny, metal-covered back that reflects light and produces an image of whatever is in front of it certificate of authenticity – n. document that prove an artwork, or something, is real original – adj. an original piece of work, such as a painting, etc. is produced by the artist and not a copy profound – adj. felt or experienced very strongly or in an extreme way
