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Leonardo Da Vinci painting Salvator Mundi was sold for $450M back in 2017, where is the justification for this pricing? That particular painting was by all acc

by dagw 6y ago

Leonardo Da Vinci painting Salvator Mundi was sold for $450M back in 2017, where is the justification for this pricing? That particular painting was by all accounts bought by (or at least for) the Abu Dhabi tourism ministry as advertising and a centerpiece for their new fancy art museum. Although other claim it might also have been purchased for Mohammed bin Salman to go in his fancy new art museum. Either way it seems to be two governments really really wanting a fancy new painting to show off in their fancy new art museum. The most generous interpretation would be that since the Mona Lisa directly and indirectly brings millions of tourism dollars to Paris every year having a famous Da Vinci painting of their own would bring millions of tourism dollars to their city as well.

fakedang 6y ago
And why shouldn't they? Is it only the West that has an exclusive right over art? If they can pay for it, and its future maintenance, and there's a willing seller, then why not? It's not like all of the Louvre's pieces were commissioned by some French king, and the same goes for MOMA or any of London's museums. In fact, let's be glad they're buying it and not looting it like the West did with a large portion of their exhibits.
- dagw 6y ago
  And why shouldn't they? No one is saying they shouldn't. The main thing people are questioning is the ridiculous amount of money they spent for a painting more and more people are convinced isn't actually a Da Vinici. Secondly the painting hasn't actually showed up in any museum yet, and in fact no one knows for sure where it actually is. Anonymous Oil Sheiks drastically overpaying (and shattering the old art sale record by over $150 million) for a painting that probably isn't a Da Vinci only for the painting to completely disappear makes for a fun story.
  - fakedang 6y ago
    Does it even matter why? They have the money, it's their concern, it's not a concern for people who aren't remotely interested in it. I think the painting's whereabouts are pretty well known in many circles - some vault in Switzerland. As for why it hasn't come up, it was originally bought by the Saudi Crown Prince as a vanity piece, which he decided to initially loan to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, but then he himself wanted to create a new tourism economy in Saudi Arabia to rival that of the UAE (good luck with that), so he decided not to loan it, while they await the construction of some new museum (and new city) in North West Saudi Arabia. Kinda silly tbh, but for a while it was stored on his private yacht (which is even sillier). As for its authenticity, I thought questions around it were settled a long time back - it is a Da Vinci original because it has some corrections (change of thumb position being the main one), which are only possible in a piece an original painter would do and not a mere copyist. But it's been heavily altered because it had to be severely repainted - even the back of it had fallen to termites and the painting had to be glued together. If it turns out to be fake, it does make for a funny story, but it's a considerably less sum than what they are accustomed to. And even if it turned out to be fake, they could simply engage the seller (Sotheby's in this case) in vicious litigation and possibly even bankrupt it (there's a parallel case against Sotheby's for the same painting by the previous owner).
    - dagw 6y ago
      Does it even matter why? Of course it doesn't matter. It's a funny little news story about weird rich people and the weird world of high end art that pops up from time to time and that people find vaguely entertaining. As for it's authenticity, no one is claiming it's a forgery or a copy, the question is if any of it was actually painted by the hand of Leonardo Da Vinci as opposed to perhaps one of his students or another artist working out of his studio.

by dagw 6y ago

fakedang 6y ago

And why shouldn't they? Is it only the West that has an exclusive right over art? If they can pay for it, and its future maintenance, and there's a willing seller, then why not? It's not like all of the Louvre's pieces were commissioned by some French king, and the same goes for MOMA or any of London's museums. In fact, let's be glad they're buying it and not looting it like the West did with a large portion of their exhibits.

dagw 6y ago
And why shouldn't they? No one is saying they shouldn't. The main thing people are questioning is the ridiculous amount of money they spent for a painting more and more people are convinced isn't actually a Da Vinici. Secondly the painting hasn't actually showed up in any museum yet, and in fact no one knows for sure where it actually is. Anonymous Oil Sheiks drastically overpaying (and shattering the old art sale record by over $150 million) for a painting that probably isn't a Da Vinci only for the painting to completely disappear makes for a fun story.
- fakedang 6y ago
  Does it even matter why? They have the money, it's their concern, it's not a concern for people who aren't remotely interested in it. I think the painting's whereabouts are pretty well known in many circles - some vault in Switzerland. As for why it hasn't come up, it was originally bought by the Saudi Crown Prince as a vanity piece, which he decided to initially loan to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, but then he himself wanted to create a new tourism economy in Saudi Arabia to rival that of the UAE (good luck with that), so he decided not to loan it, while they await the construction of some new museum (and new city) in North West Saudi Arabia. Kinda silly tbh, but for a while it was stored on his private yacht (which is even sillier). As for its authenticity, I thought questions around it were settled a long time back - it is a Da Vinci original because it has some corrections (change of thumb position being the main one), which are only possible in a piece an original painter would do and not a mere copyist. But it's been heavily altered because it had to be severely repainted - even the back of it had fallen to termites and the painting had to be glued together. If it turns out to be fake, it does make for a funny story, but it's a considerably less sum than what they are accustomed to. And even if it turned out to be fake, they could simply engage the seller (Sotheby's in this case) in vicious litigation and possibly even bankrupt it (there's a parallel case against Sotheby's for the same painting by the previous owner).
  - dagw 6y ago
    Does it even matter why? Of course it doesn't matter. It's a funny little news story about weird rich people and the weird world of high end art that pops up from time to time and that people find vaguely entertaining. As for it's authenticity, no one is claiming it's a forgery or a copy, the question is if any of it was actually painted by the hand of Leonardo Da Vinci as opposed to perhaps one of his students or another artist working out of his studio.