Would You Pay a Record $104.3M For This Sculpture?

(Feb. 3) – A sculpture by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti broke the world record price for a work of art sold at auction, fetching an astounding $104.3 million today.

Titled "Walking Man 1," Giacometti's Impressionistic, 6-foot-tall bronze was sold by Sotheby's in London to an undisclosed buyer. Previously, Pablo Picasso's "Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice)" held the record for the most amount of money paid for a work of art at auction. That iconic painting sold for $104.1 million in 2004.

According to The New York Times, Sotheby's had expected to move "Walking Man 1" for a price somewhere between $19.2 million and $28.8 million.

The sculpture 'Walking Man I' or 'L'Homme qui marche I', by Alberto Giacometti,

Anthony Devlin, PA / AP

"Walking Man 1," above, a sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, sold for $104.3 million at auction, breaking a world record.

A two-person battle for "Walking Man 1," which Giacometti conceived in 1960, developed after 10 potential buyers were quickly whittled down to a pair as the price escalated rapidly.

After an eight-minute flurry of bids cast by telephone, the gavel fell and a new record was set. The identity of the winning bidder was not disclosed.

The sculpture was sold by Germany's Dresdner Bank, which purchased it in 1980.

The staggering price for the sculpture may signal "a potential resurgence in the art market," The Wall Street Journal said. Because of the recent recession, prices for artwork have slipped somewhat, and Giacometti's piece wasn't the only work to exceed price expectations.

Gustav Klimt's landscape "Kirche in Cassone," which had gone missing during World War II, sold for $43.2 million, double Sotheby's estimates.

"We are thrilled to have sold these great works this evening," said Melanie Clore of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art division, "and that they have been recognized for the masterpieces that they are."