Just when it seemed the booming art market couldn’t soar any further, paintings and sculptures from the Microsoft co-founder’s collection were on display. Paul G. Allensurpassed $1 billion at Christie’s New York on Wednesday night, becoming the biggest sale in auction history.
It was the first of Allen’s two sales, breaking the $922 million record set by Sotheby’s art department six months earlier. Harry and Linda McCullougha spousal dispute where the divorce settlement included the sale of the collection.
If the $100 million price was used to signify entry into the rare club of auction record holders, Georges Seurat’sLes Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite Version)($149 million, including fees); Paul Cézanne’s 1888-90 cubist predecessor “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire” ($138 million). Van Gogh’s Arles lush scene, ‘Verger avec cyprès’ ($117 million). Gustav Klimt’s Autumn 1903 “Birch Forest” ($105 million).
Klimt’s sale broke the artist’s previous record at auction. In 2006, the same year that “Adele Bloch His Portrait of Bauer II” sold for his $88 million, Allen bought Klimt for about $40 million.
Bidding at the auction was brisk for several lots (there were four at Seurat), proving that the top sliver of the art market is apparently unaffected by world events. Some art experts said the absence of a political defeat that could roil the market in Tuesday’s election made buyers feel comfortable parting with their funds for beautiful pictures.
“People want to invest their money in real assets,” said London and New York dealer Nicholas McLean.
Allen Art Auction died 2018 generated a level of excitement not usually found in the often exhausted art world. Among the usual suspects for dealers such as Larry Gagosian, David Zwerner, Amalia Dayan and Joe Nahmad, among those flocked to the auction was Christie’s owner François-Henri Pinault. was included. .
Dealer Dominic Levy says, “We’re seeing a tremendous amount of activity from collectors in response to the rare masterpieces that hit the market.” The patina of this unique, legendary origin is very important to understand.”
The graceful standing nude of Alberto Giacometti, who sold $1 billion in Lot 32.”Femme de Venise III‘ sold for $25 million at an estimate of $15 million to $20 million. However, this development was not announced by the auctioneer. The people in the room didn’t realize that the art market had just made history.
Many of the buyers on the night were bidding by phone in Asia. “Asian buyers are very energetic,” Gagosian said. “What is rare and wonderful is what is strong.”
From the outset, the first three lots sold well above expectations. These included Edward Steichen’s dark and haunting 1904 “Flatiron”, which depicts New York’s Flatiron Building. At $12 million—four times his estimate—it was the highest auction ever for an artist. This was the highest price paid for a photograph, second only to Mann’s Lay’s 1924 “Le Violon d’Ingres,” which sold for $12.4 million at Christie’s last May.
More than 20,000 people viewed the collection in advance, queuing for two hours at Midtown’s Rockefeller Plaza. Such previews often attract his art fans eager to see masterpieces before many of them disappear into his private collections.
Art/exhibition special corner
The sale was coveted by collectors not only for the record price quotes, but also for the outstanding range of works represented by Allen’s collection, which he began in the 1980s.
With more than 150 exhibited at Christie’s, with 95 scheduled for sale in one day on Thursday, the works span 500 years of history. It ranged from Botticelli’s classic “Madonna of the Magnificat” (mid-15th to early 16th century), which sold for an estimated $40 million at an estimated $48 million, to Wayne Thiebaud’s whimsical series of desserts “Cafe・Cart” (2012). It sold for $6 million at an estimate of $3-5 million.
It included an early work from 1960, Jasper Johns’ fiery abstract painting “Small False Start,” which sold for $55 million (estimated $45 million to $65 million). .Blues, reds, yellows and oranges are the artist’s $36 million record set in 2014 For the flag painting purchased by Alice Walton. “It’s the story of his relationship with collage,” said the art adviser. Alan Schwartzman, has a professional relationship with the Allen estate. “It’s an exquisite object.”
The collection was heavy on figurative works such as the pictorial snapshots of Edouard Manet’s Paddling Gondolier.Le Grand Canal a Veniceand David Hockney’s “conversation” depicts curator Henry Gelserer and author Raymond Foy having a tense conversation.
David Nash, who served as Allen’s art advisor, said the tech mogul was just as passionate about buying paintings as he was with all his other interests, including sports teams, marine biology and brain research. “Seurat is probably an irreplaceable painting. So are Van Gogh and Cézanne,” he said.
At the same time, some art experts say the sale is a better barometer of Allen’s purchasing power than his one-of-a-kind aesthetic passion. “It’s like the spirit of technology. Everything is in amazing condition, brightly colored, not too intrusive, not too sexual. Like numbers and computer experts think it through. All of them “It’s almost a perfect example,” said dealer and collector Adam Lindemann. It’s very analytical and very precise.”
Art advisor Schwartzman, meanwhile, said he saw in the collection “someone who had a very personal connection to the work he purchased.”
He said, “It was inspiring to see such a strong and personal response to an artist and a hand by someone who had such a big impact on how the world works today.
Allen was ahead of his time in collecting the work of women such as Agnes Martin, Louise Bourgeois and Barbara Hepworth. And on Wednesday, Georgia O’Keeffe’s “White Rose with Larkspur No. 1” sold for her $27 million. That’s more than four times her lowest estimate of $6 million.
Christie’s guaranteed a full sale. That means the auction house has agreed to pay the lowest bargaining price for the entire cash to Allen’s estate. Christie’s then offset that risk by securing minimum bids for many lots from third parties who agreed on purchase prices in advance.
All proceeds went to charity, as directed by Allen. His property does not disclose beneficiaries, presumably to avoid alienating potential buyers who do not agree to charity.
The high price confirmed Allen’s discerning taste and his eye for art that could be appreciated. In 2016, the work of Gerhard Richter was sold. American fighter painting Earned $25.6 million in 2014, more than double the $11.2 million he paid ten years ago. I sold a painting by Mark Rothko At $56.1 million, it paid out $34.2 million in 2007.
“He was the top buyer in the market,” said Amy Capellazzo, a prominent adviser and former auction executive.