Loïc Gouzer, the man behind the most expensive work of art sold at auction—the $450m Salvator Mundi at Christie’s New York in 2017 by a certain Renaissance master—says that he knew the sale would hit new heights on discovering the name of his taxi driver that fateful day. Speaking to the Baer Faxt podcast, Gouzer says: “It was the day of auction and I could barely eat my breakfast…. Stars have to align… I ordered my Uber, the Uber says I’ll be there in three minutes, the driver’s name is……. Leonardo”. Gouzer, the former co-chair of postwar and contemporary art at the auction house, says he was so convinced this was a good omen, he begged the driver to stay while he put on his tie. “I was terrified of losing him—please do not cancel me,” he pleaded. Thank goodness the driver wasn’t called Michelangelo.
