Money is not art. But money tells a story.
In the case of Lawrence Alma-Tadema, the money tells a story of a crash, a depression, and a miraculous recovery. It tells the story of an economic winter, followed by a painting spring.
The Crash
In 1904, his masterpiece The Finding of Moses cost £5,250. It was a princely sum, equivalent to hundreds of thousands today.
Fifty years later, in the 1950s, that same painting failed to sell at auction. The market had collapsed so completely that the painting was essentially worthless. It was eventually bought for a few hundred pounds—distinctly focusing on the value of the frame, not the art.
There is a legend that another of his works, The Roses of Heliogabalus, failed to sell at all. A dealer couldn't give it away.
The Climb
But quality is a cork; you can't hold it underwater forever.
As the appreciation for 19th-century art returned, the prices began to tick up. The thaw began in the 1970s (thanks to Allen Funt). By the 1990s, the prices were in the hundreds of thousands.
The 2010 Explosion
Then came November 2010.
The Finding of Moses—the same painting that had been worthless a few decades prior—came up for auction at Sotheby's in New York.
The estimate was high ($3-5 million), but nobody was prepared for what happened.
Two bidders locked horns. One was on the phone; one was in the room. The price climbed past 10 million. Then 20. Then 30.
The room fell silent. The only sound was the auctioneer's voice calling out numbers that seemed impossible.
When the hammer finally came down, the price was $35,922,500.
The Vindication
It was a world record for a Victorian painting. It shattered the ceiling.
What happened? The world remembered.
We remembered that painting marble is hard. We remembered that painting light is a kind of magic. We remembered that painting spring—capturing the very essence of renewal and joy—is something worth paying for.
Today, owning an Alma-Tadema is once again the ultimate status symbol. The cycle is complete. The Tycoons of the 19th century loved him; the Tycoons of the 21st century love him too. Beauty, it seems, is the only currency that never truly devalues.
