Christie’s Sells $1 Billion Paul G. Allen Art Collection

In the latest remarkable development in the art world, Christie’s auction house announced on Thursday that it will sell the magnificent art collection of Paul J Allenco-founder of Microsoft who Die In 2018. The collection, which includes masterpieces by Renoir and Roy Lichtenstein, is estimated to be worth over $1 billion.

The sale of more than 150 artworks over 500 years – scheduled for an unspecified date in November – will be the largest in auction history. Christie’s said it will dedicate all proceeds to charitable work, as directed by Allen.

“It’s a huge event for the art market and the art world,” said Guillaume Cerruti, Christie’s CEO, in a phone interview. “The fact that it embraces five centuries of great art – from Botticelli to David Hockney, plus the very inspiring personality of Paul Allen, plus the fact that the sale is dedicated to charitable work – we were really touched by this extraordinary project on. It’s something very special.”

Despite the ongoing economic fallout from the pandemic, foreign war and spiraling inflation, the art market has continued to rise, proving – as it always seems – that the richest collectors are largely insulated from global turmoil. market in 2021 generated 65.1 billion dollarsAccording to the annual survey published by Art Basel and UBS.

In May, Andy Warhol’s 1964 silkscreen debut of Marilyn Monroe’s face, “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” Sold for about $195 million to an unknown buyer at Christie’s in New York, making it the highest price ever achieved for any American work of art at auction.

Earlier this year, a second cache of modern and contemporary works owned by real estate magnate Harry McCullough and his ex-wife Linda McCullough helped Sotheby’s. Achieving a record sale For a private collection of artwork at auction, $922 million.

In 2018, David and Peggy Rockefeller’s treasures Set a high of $833 million for the most valuable private collection ever sold at auction, exceeding the total amount of $443 million (reviewed in 2013) for the Yves Saint Laurent collection in 2009.

Among the highlights from Allen’s estate that will be for sale are Jasper Johns’ “Small False Start” acrylic and paper collage from 1960, which is estimated to fetch more than $50 million, and Paul Cézanne’s “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire” (1888) – 90), estimated at more than $100 million. But there are also many old masters. Other details of the exact works to be shown are not available.

“This is a very focused view,” Alex Rutter, head of Christie’s divisions specializing in sales of works of art in the 20th and 21st centuries, said of the Allen Collection. “Landscape and mod are definitely prevalent.”

Allen, who founded Microsoft Corp. With Bill Gates, he discovered this artistic error after being captivated by JMW Turner’s romantic seascapes and Lichtenstein’s Pop paintings on a visit to Tate Britain in London.

He pursued his interest in visual art with the same passion that he brought to music; In 2000, Allen founded the Experience Music Project – which is now Pop Culture Museum – where he displayed items such as guitars owned by Jimi Hendrix in a building in Seattle designed by Frank Gehry.

Allen loaned his artworks to major museums and galleries, and his personal property displays. exhibition”see natureOrganized by the Portland Museum of Art, the Seattle Museum of Art, and the Paul G. Allen Family Collection in 2016, it included pieces by Vincent Van Gogh, Edward Hopper, and Gustav Klimt. Among the highlights was Jan Bruegel the Younger 17th century allegorical paintings of the five senses.

“Living with these pieces of art is really amazing,” Allen Tell Bloomberg in 2015. “I feel you should share some work to give the public a chance to see it.”

“Double Take: From Monet to LiechtensteinPresented at the Museum of Popular Culture in 2006, it combines Impressionist works with old masters, modern and contemporary pieces. Van Gogh’s 1888 “Orchard with Peach Trees in Blossom” is set alongside Max Ernst’s 1940 “Landscape of Lake and Chimera” Willem de Kooning’s 1975 untitled summary is matched to Monet’s 1919 book Water Lilies.

Allen also treated art as an important investment. At Christie’s in 2016, he was the anonymous purchaser of an 1891 Monet cloth from a haystack for $81.4 million, then an auction record, according to Bloomberg.

In the same year, he She sold a painting of an American fighter plane Scream Through the Sky by Gerhard Richter for $25.6 million, more than double the $11.2 million he paid a decade ago, and in 2014, Sell ​​Mark Rothko’s painting For $56.2 million, he paid $34.2 million in 2007.

Allen made sure to bring culture to Seattle, in part in an effort to make art more accessible to more people. seem Seattle Art Gallery At the city’s soccer field, home to the Seattle Seahawks, which Allen also owns. His investment firm, Vulcan . was also commissioned public art projects In town and support local artists.

“Paul has truly understood the power and importance of art and has always been happy to share this experience with others,” said Jodi Allen, outlet for Paul G. Allen’s home. “I am very pleased to have this unparalleled collection in the hands of Christie’s world-class operation to lead its safe passage to new collectors around the world.”