Between Maradona, Warhol and Tilsa Tsuchiya: this is how millionaire bids work in auction houses

The shirt that “D10S” wore, who on earth was known as Diego Armando Maradona, when he played in the memorable match against England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, was sold on May 4 for US$9, 3 million, after two weeks of virtual auction at Sotheby’s. Although no information was given about the winning bidder, according to the Argentine press the bids came from the United Arab Emirates, which would host this iconic piece of football history, the best valued sports memorabilia and a pillar of the emotional memory of the Argentine people.

This record for sporting goods is heating up the sale of his spring collection which, at the New York headquarters of this auction house, would be historic for a Peruvian artist on May 18. It is the famous “Tristan and Isolde”, painted by Tilsa Tsuchiya between 1974 and 1975.

The same original presentation of the painting is part of the legend in our arts: in 1975, in a Miraflores gallery, Tsuchiya inaugurated his exhibition after years of silence. In an empty room, she only hung this piece accompanied by Wagner’s opera of the same name, which she listened to with her father during her childhood. The surreal scene was resolved with tiny, vertical brushstrokes. The image features two crouching, armless creatures linked by their braided tongues. They seem to float on a yellow haze, stopped over blurred mountains.

Like Maradona’s shirt, the market provides Tilsa’s team with the value of unique pieces. The art collector Armando Andrade reminds us that it is not only an emblematic painting, but also an atypical one. It is not part of his “Myths” series, nor is it part of that great corpus that he painted throughout the 1970s.

For many years, this painting was part of the very important collection of José Barreda Zegarra. It then passed through other private collections, in a route that was difficult to identify, until its arrival at Sotheby’s. Of course, being of such importance, for any lover of local art, the ideal would be for the “Tristan and Iseult” to remain in the country, but putting it up for auction generates a complex multi-faceted debate.

Pros and cons

Armando Andrade has had experience in hammering. For 25 years he has been president of the auction committee of the Lima Art Museum (MALI), which gives him enough authority to comment on this dance of millions that, in a curious mix of t-shirts and artistic wonders, turns out to be somewhat indecent for some.

“In the first place, if we see it from a heritage point of view, we are talking about one of the most important paintings in Tilsa’s production, so it would be ideal if it remained in the country. However, if you look at it from the point of view of the market, “Tristan and Isolde” meets all the conditions for its price to reach figures that no Peruvian artist would have dreamed of. His refined technique meant that Tilsa’s production was very limited, as is the case, for example, with Frida Kahlo, whose paintings have come to be worth US$50 million.”, explains the specialist.

By the way, legally nothing prevents Peruvian modern art paintings from leaving the country. According to our legislation based on the postulates of UNESCO, a work of art must wait 100 years to be considered cultural heritage and, therefore, subject to territoriality.

For Andrade, the dynamics in the market animated by the Sotheby’s house will be a promotional tool for the work of Peruvian painting. “If this painting reaches a million and a half dollars, which is very possible, it will be news in the world of collecting and will be seen in the international market in a very different way. Very few Peruvian artists have that level of visibility“, Explain.

Thus, we are faced with a paradox. That Sotheby’s manages to break a record for “Tristan and Iseult” on the one hand is positive for the international recognition of the Peruvian creator, and it is also a loss for Peru.

Is there a risk that other Tilsa paintings will emigrate from the country? Although, as Andrade accepts, the laws of the market are perverse, they can generate interesting dynamics. “So far, “Tristan and Iseult” has fetched $480,000 at the virtual auction, with bids still nearly two weeks away. I think it should easily exceed a million dollars. What will happen to the rest of his work? Indeed, those who have a Tilsa and need the money will try to sell it, but this does not mean that they will also get a million dollars. We are talking about an emblematic painting that reaches a record price, but all his paintings do not cost the same”, he warns.

Tilsa and company

As reported by the Efe agency, Sotheby’s officially presented its spring collection, which will be auctioned between May 17 and 19, with an estimated global value of one billion dollars.

Tsuchiya’s “Tristan and Iseult” will be offered alongside iconic pieces by Picasso, Andy Warhol, Francis Bacon and Claude Monet.

Sotheby’s May auction is organized into three lots: modern art, contemporary art and “art of now”, the latter with works made in the last ten years. The average value of the works for sale is US$6.2 million, and 21 of them exceed ten. There are several Picassos that go on sale, but the jewel is “Femme Nue Couchée”, never before for sale, and now estimated at US$60 million.

Impressionists cannot be missing in these weeks of auctions. Two of the most sought-after pieces will be a Venetian painting by Monet, “Le Grand Canal et Santa Maria della Salute,” estimated at $50 million, and Paul Cezanne’s “Clarière,” which could fetch $40 million. From the contemporary art collection, one of Andy Warhol’s most recognizable portraits, his “Elvis” wielding a gun, is aiming to raise $25 million.

The dance of the millions is just beginning.

The garment of controversy

Was it crazy to pay US$9 million for Maradona’s shirt?

For Armando Andrade, a local authority on art auctions, although the sale of Diego Armando Maradona’s Argentina national team shirt for US$9.3 million may be an absurd figure, we have to wait to see the fate of the garment to give a fair opinion.

“These purchases seem crazy, but they often have a strategy that is difficult to recognize at first. For example, thinking of investing US$9 million in a piece that will attract, over the years, millions of visitors to a museum dedicated to soccer, is not much money.”, explains the expert.

“I sense that behind this apparent madness there is a project. The price of these objects is set by a market that is not regulated“, Add.