A “Post-it note”–sized sketch of a bear created by Leonardo da Vinci sold for nearly $12.3 million on Thursday, a record sale price for a drawing by the artist at an auction.
Christie’s, the London-based auction house, sold Head of a Bear after it was on a display tour between New York and Hong Kong. The company put a low-end estimate for the 2.7-inch drawing at over $11 million but said it could sell for as high as $16.7 million.
The final price at $12.3 million placed the tiny square sketch, which is over 500 years old, at a slightly higher value than the previous record of $11.5 million offered for the marginally larger silverpoint study Horse and Rider at an auction in 2001.
“With silverpoint as his only instrument, Leonardo achieved great luminosity evoking the play of light and shade on the animal’s dense fur,” Christie’s wrote in a social media post.
The auction house did not reveal the identity of the buyers, but the drawing was sold in a single bid to a man and a woman.
DA VINCI’S HEAD OF A BEAR COULD SELL FOR NEARLY $17 MILLION, AUCTION HOUSE SAYS
#AuctionUpdate Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Head of a bear’ achieved £8,857,500 in The Exceptional Sale, setting a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a drawing by the artist. The drawing is an exquisite demonstration of #LeonardodaVinci‘s unsurpassed mastery as a draughtsman. #ClassicWeekLondon pic.twitter.com/d0Ja2Ualub
— Christie’s (@ChristiesInc) July 8, 2021
Some experts have said the initial asking price for the animal sketch was higher than it should be, arguing the small size of the drawing detracts from the multimillion-dollar value.
Jean-Luc Baroni, a London-based dealer in museum-quality old master drawings, said the prices are “absurd,” adding he would have valued the piece at around $2 million.
“You’re buying a name,” Baroni told the New York Times. “It’s nothing to do with the love of drawings.”
Other specialists said the value of the price was adequate for the bear sketch, noting the estimate reflected the similar record price set in 2001.
“It was a very beautiful, very poetic drawing,” said Stephen Ongpin, a London-based specialist dealer in old master drawings.
The drawing represents “a tiny trophy, a Post-it note Leonardo,” Ongpin said. “It has a tenderness you don’t normally see in Leonardo’s work.”
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Leonardo’s highest-priced painting, the Salvator Mundi, sold in 2017 for $450.3 million.
