Art collection brings in over $1.5 billion

The auction breaks all previous records.

Christie’s is auctioning Paul Allen’s entire art collection in New York under the name “Visionary”.

Sarah Yenesel/EPA

The auction house Christie’s is known for bringing all kinds of items to the public for exorbitant sums of money. Whether it’s works of art by Picasso or Banksy, a worn shirt worn by the Brazilian football legend Pelé or a seven-meter-tall teddy bear by the artist Urs Fischer – the auctions always bring in millions. However, the auction, which is currently being held in New York, breaks all previously known records.

Paul Allen’s art collection is up for sale. The American was not only a co-founder of Microsoft, but also a passionate art collector. His collection includes works from around 500 years of art history. These include paintings by Claude Monet, David Hockney and Vincent Van Gogh. In 2018, the multi-billionaire died at the age of 65 as a result of cancer. Therefore, his art collection is now being divided up and sold to new owners.

Experts had assumed in advance that a record could be set at the auction. The value of the collection, which includes 150 works of art, has been estimated at around one billion US dollars.

Record broken on the first day of the auction

The employees at Christie’s must have been amazed when the estimated sum was exceeded on the first day of the auction. Art lovers paid more than $100 million for five works, the auction house said. On Thursday, the announcement came that the works auctioned so far have already brought in more than $ 1.5 billion.

The paintings for sale were exhibited prior to the auction.  Here

The paintings for sale were exhibited prior to the auction. Here “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire” by Paul Cézanne.

Sarah Yenesel/EPA

The most expensive work of art was the painting “Les Poseuses, Ensemble” by the French painter Georges Seurat. The work, considered the pinnacle of pointillism, changed hands for $149 million. The painting “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire” by Paul Cézanne reached a final price of 137 million dollars, which is also an auction record for the French artist. Paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt also achieved record prices at Wednesday’s auction.

Art collectors from all over the world followed the auction on Wednesday. Christie’s specialists bid at the auction on behalf of customers from Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Estimates by experts were sometimes exceeded many times over. For example, Edward Steinchen’s famous photograph of the Flatiron Building in New York sold for $11.8 million. The estimate was 2 to 3 million.

Just under half of all paintings were auctioned off

The amazing thing about the course so far: As of Thursday morning, only 60 of the 150 works of art have come under the hammer. Nevertheless, the auction has already surpassed the previous record for the auction of a private art collection. This spring, American couple Harry and Linda Macklowe’s collection grossed $922 million.

The coming days will show how much money the auction of Paul Allen’s art collection will ultimately bring in. On Thursday the auction goes into the second round.

Auction proceeds will be donated

According to auction house Christie’s, proceeds from the sale of the collection will be donated to charity. The auction thus does justice to Paul Allen’s philanthropic past. During his time at Microsoft, despite tensions with Bill Gates, he signed his Giving Pledge initiative – and pledged to donate at least half of his wealth.


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