The art collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018, fetched a record $1.62 billion at an auction by Christie’s in New York on Wednesday and Thursday.
In a sign that the art market continues to grow at a brisk pace despite geopolitical and economic uncertainties, five of the paintings were sold for over $100 million each on Wednesday evening at the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.
They included Georges Seurat’s ‘Les Poseuses Ensemble – Small Version,’ sold for $149.2 million, Paul Cézanne’s ‘La Montagne Sainte-Victoire,’ which went for $137.7 million, and Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Verger avec cyprès,’ which fetched $117.1 million.
The other two were Paul Gauguin’s 'Maternité II' ($105.7 million) and Gustav Klimt’s 'Birch Forest' ($104.5 million).
The all-time record for an art auction was set on Wednesday night, when sales topped $1.5 billion. On Thursday night, the second part of the sale fetched “only” $116 million.
Paul G. Allen’s collection attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Christie’s art galleries around the world and has now made history as the most expensive auction ever, Guillaume Cerutti, CEO of the New York-based auction house, said in a statement.
The entire collection comprised 155 masterpieces spanning 500 years of art history (and) was 100% sold. According to Christie’s, 28% of the works – by value – were bought on Wednesday evening by Asian clients.
