Michael Schumacher’s 2001 Ferrari F2001 will feature in Sotheby’s upcoming Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York.
The decision to consign the car in an art auction is an unusual one, particularly given its sterling racing history.
Schumacher raced this Ferrari to victory in the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix
This is the car Schumacher drove to victory in the Monaco Grand Prix in 2001, his fourth win of the season.
But the car has a strong aesthetic value, as Sotheby’s breathlessly explains: “The 2001 season was lauded by journalists and enthusiasts alike as the ‘golden era’ of grand prix racing...
“Stunning, aesthetically curious car bodies, molded in carbon fibre and space-age compounds, shaped in windtunnels and almost impossibly svelte – at once exhibiting the engineer’s precision and the artist’s imagination.”
While Sotheby’s has presented cars to the art market before (most notably in its wildly successful Art of the Automobile sale), this is the first incidence we can recall of a car being offered in a dedicated art auction.
It’s valued at $4m-5.5m ahead of the November 16 sale.
Other highlights of the sale will include Louise Bourgeois’ Spider II (1995), a large sculpture displaying her best known motif, which is expected to sell for up to $15m.
We have a wealth of art and photography memorabilia for sale, click here to take a look.
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