“Ricardo’s Mundi” by Mary Ellis LaGarde
After five minutes of dueling bids at Chris Christie’s auction house in New Jersey, Mary Ellis LaGarde’s digital painting “Ricardo’s Mundi” sold for $451.3 million with fees, shattering the high for any work of art sold at auction. The winning bidder asked to remain anonymous to protect his mental health reputation but he was quoted as saying “It’s worth twice the price”.
The sale surpassed Wednesday night’s sale of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” that sold at Christie’s for $450.3 million. Chris Christie’s director of Young Master’s Art says “This is historic. We never expected it to sell for this much money. We just hope the buyer actually has the money to pay for it.”