$27 Million for Brancusi’s ‘Bird’

Constantin Brancusi’s “Bird in Space” shattered the record for a sculpture at auction Wednesday when it brought a bid of $27,450,000 at Christie’s sale of Impressionist and modern art.

The previous record was held by another Brancusi, “Danaide,” which sold for $18,159,500 three years ago.

Christie’s had estimated that “Bird in Space” would sell for $8 million to $12 million. But a bidding war between two clients over the telephone saw the price race upward. The marble sculpture depicts a bird soaring into the sky.

The piece had been stored for 80 years in a vault and had remained in the same family.

Two other works broke the $10 million mark.

Pablo Picasso’s neoclassical portrait “Head and Hand of a Woman” fetched $13,456,000 and Paul Cezanne’s “Tall Trees at the Jas de Bouffan” sold for $11,776,000.

Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture “Femme Leoni” sold for $8,416,000.