SOLD! 400 million $ for the "Male Mona Lisa"

Sold! It doesn’t happen often that an entire auction room full of people stands up to start cheering and applauding with the fall of the hammer. But during the evening sale of 15 November 2017 at Christie’s in New York people just couldn’t keep their excitement and astonishment to themselves. What they just witnessed was the most expensive sale of a painting at auction ever recorded. An anonymous bidder had just given the final agreement for paying $400,000,000 for the ‘Male Mona Lisa’. The record sale of Salvator Mundi got a tremendous amount of attention. Still today the painting remains hot topic due to controversy around its buyer, its authenticity, and its location.

Over-restored or authentic; the bottom line remains that a $400,000,000 transaction took place transferring the ownership of this artwork. Although maybe not always concerning millions of dollars, art transactions take place frequently. Collectors, auction houses, and museums participate and trade on an international art market which is to a large extend regulated by the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”). This legislation involves guidelines for international transactions like the universal elements of a selling contracts and buyer’s obligations. However, the art market is often subject to cases of fraud, money laundering, and tax invasion. Factors such as varying price estimates and debatable financial sources contribute to a form of transactions that cannot really be called transparent. The use of blockchain might be a gamechanger in the segment. Being able to have and consult secured ‘track records’ of artworks together with internationally recognized identification using blockchain technology might be a solution. Also, more secured digital transactions using e-wallets could make future art transactions more efficient and transparent. A lot is happening in this field, and it is definitely worthwhile to keep a close eye on all of the developments.

To be continued!