Paul Allen’s Art Collection Has Sold For A Record-Breaking $2.4 Billion

UPDATE: [11/11/2023]: Following the remarkable results from the first day of the sale of late-Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s art collection, day two saw the sale of a further 95 artworks go under the hammer and achieve US$115,863,500 (AU$174,334,015). This brings the total achieved by the auction up to a record-breaking US$1,622,249,500 (AU$2,439,491,752), which is the highest price an art collection has ever sold for.

Highlights from the second day of bidding included Typewriter Eraser, Scale X by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, which hammered for US$8,405,000 (AU$12,631,958) and surpassed the previous highest amount paid for a work by the artists by 38 times. The other top lots were Red No. 1 by Sam Francis which sold for US$6,780,000 (AU$10,187,295) and Frank Stella’s Cinema de Pepsi III which achieved US$5,580,000 (AU$8,384,234).

Original article – Half Of Paul Allen’s Art Collection Has Sold For $2.3 Billion (With 95 Lots Still To Sell)

The grand galleries of New York’s auction rooms have often served as the backdrop for record-breaking sales, which was exactly what happened last night at Christie’s. The two-day auction of the art collection of the late-Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has closed off the first day of bidding, with results totalling a record-breaking US$1.5 billion (AU$2.3 billion) from just 60 lots, with a further 95 lots to go under the hammer tonight.

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It’s the kind of number we’re more used to seeing in the context of government infrastructure spending, but the $2.3 billion sale total demolished the previous record for the most valuable art collection ever sold. The previous record was set during the court-ordered sale of real estate tycoon Harry Macklowe and his wife Linda’s art collection, which totalled $1.44 billion during their public divorce last year.

For the sale of Paul Allen’s art collection, Christie’s arranged a two-day event to auction a total of 155 artworks that the tech co-founder had collected since the 1990s, including a number of important works from the likes of Van Gogh, Cezanne, Klimt, Monet, Picasso and more. With the first day closing out $2.4 billion in sales, a further 95 lots are set to sell this evening against a high estimate of around $140 million, meaning the entire collection could approach the $3 billion mark.

Highlight lots from the first day of the sale included Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version) by Georges Seurat, which sold for US$149,240,000 (AU$232,389,066) and eclipsed the previous highest price paid for a Seurat by nearly five times. Another was Paul Cézanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire which hammered for US$137,790,000 (AU$214,514,916), as well as another artist record for Verger avec cyprès by Vincent Van Gogh that sold for US$117,180,000 (AU$182,428,753).

Highlights of the second day that will sell this evening include, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Typewriter Eraser, Scale X ($US5-7 million estimate), Poured Black Shape I by Jackson Pollock (US$1.5-2 million estimate) and Pablo Picasso’s La belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast) (US$1.2-1.8 million estimate). Head to Christie’s catalogue for results (below) and the second part of Paul Allen’s remarkable art collection auction.