Christie's Salvator Mundi Sale Details
Christie's auctioned Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi as a lot in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale at Christie's New York on November 15, 2017. The painting sold for $450.3 million, including buyer's premium, making it the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. The sale exceeded the pre-sale high estimate of $200 million and surpassed the previous auction record held by Willem de Kooning's Interchange, which sold for $300 million in 2015. The buyer was identified as Saudi Arabia's Department of Culture and Information acting on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. The transaction was facilitated by a consortium of dealers including Robert Simon, Alexander Parish, Yves Bouvier, and Dmitry Rybolovlev, with Christie's acting as the seller and auctioneer.
The sale took place at Rockefeller Center in New York City, with the lot offered without a reserve price. Christie's marketed the painting as one of fewer than 20 known paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and the only major work by the artist in private hands. The sale was live-streamed and widely covered by major financial and art market outlets, including Forbes, which reported the record price and the involvement of Saudi-backed buyers. The transaction generated significant debate about the role of mega-auctions in the global art market and the influence of sovereign wealth funds on art prices.
Ownership History and Authenticity
The painting's provenance traces from the French royal collection through to a 1958 sale at Christie's London, where it was attributed to a follower of Leonardo and sold for £45. After passing through several dealers, it was rediscovered and reattributed to Leonardo around 2005. In 2013, Yves Bouvier sold the work to Dmitry Rybolovlev through a Swiss intermediary for $83 million, later becoming the subject of a fraud lawsuit by Rybolovlev against Bouvier. The authenticity of the painting has been contested by some Leonardo scholars and experts, including those cited by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other institutions, while Christie's and its advisors maintained the attribution. The painting's exhibition history includes loans to the National Gallery in London and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, where it was displayed as a Leonardo original.
Following the 2017 sale, the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism confirmed the painting would be exhibited at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. However, as of the latest public reporting, the painting's display status has been subject to delays and speculation, with no permanent exhibition confirmed at the museum. The ownership structure has remained opaque, with the Saudi-linked entity and its partners not publicly disclosing the current custodian or lending arrangements. Legal disputes related to the sale, including the Rybolovlev v. Bouvier case, have been covered in detail by Reuters and other news outlets, with ongoing implications for the art market's transparency standards.
Market Impact and Current Status
The Salvator Mundi sale set a new benchmark for the global art market and influenced the valuation of Old Master paintings at auction. The record price was widely cited in financial and art market analyses, including by major outlets such as The Art Newspaper, which tracked the impact on the secondary market for Renaissance works. The sale reinforced the role of mega-auctions as a driver of market visibility and price discovery, while also raising questions about the sustainability of record prices for single works. The transaction was structured through a private treaty sale by Christie's, with the auction house taking a commission on the final price.
As of the latest available public data, the Salvator Mundi remains one of the most valuable and controversial paintings in the world, with its market value and ownership continuing to be discussed in financial and art market reports. The painting