Eduardo Costantini shows the painting by Leonora Carrington

Eduardo Costantini: “Collecting is a passion or an addiction, one never stops”

Eduardo Costantini shows the painting by Leonora Carrington for which he paid US$ 28.4 million and which today hangs in the Malba museum.

The Argentine businessman Eduardo Costantini is also an avid collector who also founded the Malba museum 23 years ago. In May, he was awarded a work by Leonora Carrington at an auction in New York for US$ 28.4 million, the same one that he unsuccessfully tried to acquire three decades ago, when it was sold for only US$ 400 thousand. “This time I was very determined to buy the work,” he says in this interview, in which he also addresses the situation in his country, currently governed by Javier Milei. “I feel that this government, regardless of the errors, is on the right path,” he says.

On May 16, at the Sotheby’s auction house in NYC, one of the most stellar moments of the year in the art world took place. The painting The Distractions of Dagobert, by the English artist, naturalized Mexican, Leonora Carrington, was sold at auction for US$ 28.4 million, more than double the estimate, after an intense 10-minute dispute between three bidders. It was a record for the artist and places her among the most sought-after in the art world, along with Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe and Louise Bourgeois.

When it was awarded, the room erupted in applause and the new owner was excited, along with his wife. Until then, no one had noticed the identity of the buyer, but soon the news went viral. It was Eduardo Costantini, one of Argentina's most renowned businessmen and by far its greatest philanthropist, art lover and founder of the incredible Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, Malba.

But the story had an even more peculiar ingredient. Costantini had tried to buy the same work 30 years ago, at another auction at the same Sotheby's, but in the end decided to back out when it reached US$350,000. Today he had to pay US$28 million more.

Costantini gives this interview at the Malba headquarters, but not only that; in the same room where Carrington's painting is now exhibited, the new star of the museum's collection.

At 78 years old, the businessman is not only very active in the art market, but also in his real estate and financial businesses. In fact, a few months ago he completed the purchase of two companies: TPGC Group, one of the market's benchmarks for institutional investors and the fund manager Southern Trust. He brought both together under the umbrella of his company Consultorio, thus forming one of the three largest non-banking financial services groups in Argentina and Uruguay. Costantini is one of the six Argentine businessmen who appear on the Forbes list of the world's millionaires, with an estimated fortune of US$1.4 billion.

Costantini does not divide his time mathematically between businesses. “More than separating, it is a kind of integration. After this interview, I am going to a meeting on capital markets. I like that diversity and there are also very good teams working on all the things I do. It is not that I spend all day running from one place to another,” he says with that tranquility that he never fails to transmit.
Big big mistake

You have described not having bought Las distracciones de Dagoberto 30 years ago as a big mistake. How do you feel now that you finally auctioned it off, but at a much higher price?

-Well, when that happened 30 years ago, the economic reality was different and at that auction it had an estimated value of US$100,000. So, at US$400,000 I was already very close to it at that time. But of course, it was a mistake and I always said that if I went back to the market I wouldn't let it go again.

This time, the price also went up a lot during the auction.

-Yes, of course, but this time I was very determined to buy the work.

It was a very long and tense auction, but, despite that, you seemed very calm.

-No, on the contrary, when it reaches US$13 million, there is a silence and I make my first offer. I thought that the thing was going to close more or less there. The point is that at that moment the representative of Sotheby's for clients from Asia came in to offer, who until then had bought almost everything that has been sold of Latin American art. And a sort of new auction began.

At one point his wife shouted "no, it can't be done," in the face of the delay of the auctioneer waiting for other offers.

-Yes, well, a lot of time had passed and it was an emotional reaction because the matter was dragging on for longer than expected. In fact, before awarding the property, the auctioneer himself said that he had to sell it because he had already waited long enough.
Read more