# 'Man Pointing' sculpture sells for BIG $ ! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652 "2015-06-27T20:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/1 "2015-06-27T20:38:14Z")
Some lucky bidder stole this magnificent sculpture for a little more than a measly $141,000,000! Checkout “Man Pointing” and tell me that the masterpiece is not worth way more dough than what it sold for! (I love how the light dances off his hip and moves up to strike the eyes, creating an absolute abstraction of marvelous colors and phonic wisdom bringing the whole kaleidoscope into a Niagara of incalculable splendor!:eek:) > **[L'Homme au doigt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Homme_au_doigt)** > > L'Homme au doigt (\[lɔm o dwa\], "The Man with the Finger"; also called Pointing Man or Man Pointing) is a 1947 bronze sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, that became the most expensive sculpture ever when it sold for US$141.3 million on 11 May 2015. > Giacometti made six casts of the work plus one artist's proof. Pointing Man is in the collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art, London's Tate Gallery, and the Des Moines Art Center. One of the others is also in a museum, and the rest are in found... ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/2 "2015-06-27T20:43:07Z")
I’m glad you get excited about art. Off to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/3 "2015-06-27T20:48:07Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I’m glad you get excited about art. > > Off to Cafe Society. I thought it would make for a hot debate topic, I reckon I was wrong.😕 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/4 "2015-06-27T20:51:24Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > I thought it would make for a hot debate topic, I reckon I was wrong.😕 What exactly were you wanting to debate? I would assume your comments about the work are sarcastic and you are somehow trying to imply that the price wasn’t justified, but it’s a bit hard to tell exactly what your point is, let alone any topic for debate. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/5 "2015-06-27T21:08:08Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > What exactly were you wanting to debate? > > I would assume your comments about the work are sarcastic and you are somehow trying to imply that the price wasn’t justified, but it’s a bit hard to tell exactly what your point is, let alone any topic for debate. You’re right again, sorry.☹ But you’ve got to admit it’s a joke that that thing would sell for so much, right? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/6 "2015-06-27T21:17:59Z")
It kind of looks like Steve Wynn standing on the rooftop. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/7 "2015-06-27T21:18:25Z")
> [@Dibbs](#): > > You’re right again, sorry.☹ > > But you’ve got to admit it’s a joke that that thing would sell for so much, right? Why, exactly? Because you don’t like it? ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/8 "2015-06-27T21:28:54Z")
His _Homme Avec Les Poignées d’Amour_ is expected to top $160 million. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/9 "2015-06-27T21:44:33Z")
For all we know, the buyer might have received information about a (thin) scroll that reveals the location of a treasure valued at $142 million. That’s pretty hard to pass up! It seems like a reasonable art piece (not my taste, but reasonably executed). But as something less than a hundred years old, I’m pretty amazed that it’s going for such a high price. I’d be impressed by the Mona Lisa going for that price. I’d say that really all this tells is the amount of excess cash some people have rather than how may multiples of times better this statue is than one by some unknown modern day artist who has made something fairly similar in look and quality. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/10 "2015-06-27T23:01:21Z")
Well, I wouldn’t pay 141 million for it, but if that’s how someone else wants to spend their money, more power to them. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/11 "2015-06-27T23:11:27Z")
I am disappointed it’s not called “Man Directing Traffic”. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/12 "2015-06-27T23:18:40Z")
I always liked his sculptures; but, yeah, I do not think I would pay a nickel over $99 million for one. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/13 "2015-06-27T23:27:11Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I am disappointed it’s not called “Man Directing Traffic”. “\*Naked \*Man Directing Traffic”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/14 "2015-06-27T23:33:35Z")
I was expecting something more phallic based on the title. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/15 "2015-06-27T23:36:33Z")
I think it’s pretty awesome. Wish I had a few hundred million laying around. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/16 "2015-06-28T00:00:30Z")
Someone with a billion dollars had a statue worth 160 million now doesn’t have the statue but does have the cash, while some other billionaire is out 160 million but has a statue worth the same amount. So while it seems like a huge amount of money for even a very nice piece of art, in reality its just kind of a glass bead game for the uber-rich. Their net worth doesn’t really change except to the extent that the statue ap/depreciates, and while they loose some liquidity, if you’re an aging billionaire, that probably makes little difference to you. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/17 "2015-06-28T00:05:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Why, exactly? Because you don’t like it? I’m not sure why. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/18 "2015-06-28T00:12:23Z")
I’m very dissapointed this wasn’t a debate. It had such promise. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/19 "2015-06-28T00:14:42Z")
I always wonder, when I see such sales, whether the guy that bought it got it because he loved it and it spoke to him, or purely as an investment / hedge against inflation. Because really, objectively, I am sure there are people who love this sculpture, but I would expect their number is not huge. And I am sure there are people who can afford to spend 190M on a piece of art but their number is not huge either. The question is whether the intersection of the two groups is an empty set or not. ---
**Author:** ![Dibbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dibbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dibbs)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652/20 "2015-06-28T00:17:09Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I’m very dissapointed this wasn’t a debate. It had such promise. I wanted to debate it from the side of it being worth every dime, just to see how it would washout with certain folks that think CEOs getting 300 x the pay of their regular workers is fine, but the Mod didn’t like the idea (I guess). Just as well, I needed the nap.:o [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-pointing-sculpture-sells-for-big/723652.md?page=2)