The event of the year – or the century – in the art market did not break expectations, but all records. It happened Wednesday night at Christie’s in New York. went to auction one of the best private art collections of the world, that of Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, who passed away in 2018.
Dozens of collectors, dealers, consultants and auction house executives appeared in person at the Rockefeller Center building. Many others participated remotely, connected by videoconference or telephone with the room. A couple of hours later, at the frantic pace of the most prestigious auction deck, that of Jussy Pylkkanen, the art had been sold for just over 1,500 million dollars.
The previous record had been reached by Christie’s big competitor, Sotheby’s, just six months ago, at the auction of the collection of Harry and Linda Macklowe, New York brick multimillionaires, forced to sell their artistic treasures in the midst of a bitter divorce. and chewed with gusto by the local press. That sale went away a total of 922 million dollars.
The second round, this Thursday
The collection of the Allen collection is much higher and does not include the lots that will be auctioned this Thursday, in the second evening dedicated to Allen, even if they are cheaper jobswith estimates that do not exceed tens of millions of dollars.
That’s a respectable figure at any auction, but not this Wednesday in New York. A measure of the value of the works: sixty lots were auctioned twenty records auction for artists of all ages.
Offers in excess of $ 100 million, true events of the year in a normal situation, were almost routine yesterday. Five operas have crossed that threshold, starting with ‘Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version)’, by Giorgio Seurat, sold for 149 million dollars. Pointillism was one of Allen’s tastes and the auction included three other works by the French artist.
This figure was also beaten by a precursor work of Cubism by Paul Cézanne, “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire”, which raised 138 million; a scene from Arles Vincent van Gogh, ‘Orchard with cypresses’, with 117 million; ‘Maternity’, from Paolo Gauguin, with 105 million; and “Birch Forest”, from Gustav Klimtwith 104 million.
The second most expensive photo in history
The latter was also a record for the Austrian painter, which was also achieved at auction, among others, for Edward Steichen, with a photograph that is placed as the second most expensive in history at auction, Thomas Hart Benton, Diego Rivera or Jasper Johns.
Johns, still alive and just celebrated in New York and Philadelphia with a major retrospective, was another of Allen’s weaknesses. In particular he collected his paintings of him with numbers, perhaps a connection with the development of computer codeswhich was what propitiated Allen’s luck.
He received it very soon, after doing it he founded Microsoft with Bill Gates when they were both in their early twenties. Allen soon left running the company, but his software success made him one of the richest people in the world.
He invested his money in what he loved: sports, bought several US professional teams, research and art. In the latter, she showed a particular taste and an ability to understand the appreciation of some artists.
A collection to fill a museum
His death left a collection capable of filling a museum. That apparition has at least given away the Christie’s headquarters in recent weeks, which opened its doors to present the auction and received queues of visitors.
among the works, all periods, styles and origins. From Botticelli and Brueghel the Younger to Lucian Freud or Francis Bacon. The best Impressionists, Cubists, Expressionists and Modernists found their place. Canaletto, Picasso, O’Keefe, Hockney, Signac, Magritte, Manet, Monet …
From Wednesday evening the works will be scattered around the world. Many of them, in Asia and the Gulf, with an inexhaustible appetite for the best works. And your money, in the hands of philanthropic organizations (its objective was reserved so as not to harm the interest of some buyers). This was Allen’s will and he filled their pockets.
