Christie’s Double-Header Totals $1.1 B., With Records for Pollock, Rothko

Most of the headlines at Monday’s evening sale of Christie’s SI Newhouse Collection and 20th-century art are likely to focus on the eight- and nine-figure prices: $181.2 million for a Pollock, $107.6 million for a Brancusi and $98.4 million for a Rothko. Granted, these numbers are shocking, but these pieces will always perform well. The sale actually revealed more about the sub-$20 million market, which experienced a depth of bidding missing from the more carefully crafted and overpriced auctions of recent years.

The double-bill sale, which totaled 64 lots and achieved a turnover of $1.1 billion, was evidenced by telephone bidding by Christie’s representatives as evidenced by the growing strength of the American art-buying public, particularly in the West. In contrast, European and Asian representatives had little involvement and lower prices. As always, works that are new to the market outperform those that have been circulated in recent years.

(Unless otherwise stated, all prices include buyer’s premium.)

The evening kicked off with an auction of 16 lots from the collection of the late media tycoon SI Newhouse Jr. (commonly known as “Si”), who ran Condé Nast from 1975 to 2015. He worked closely with former Sotheby’s auction house icon Tobias Meyer over decades to assemble the collection, repeatedly exchanging pieces for better specimens and ultimately creating one of the most exquisite collections ever assembled. Both Newhouse and his wife, Victoria, frequently appeared in art newsThe list of top 200 collectors is said to have spent as much as $700 million on collections.

The Newhouse collection is the fourth group of works that Meyer has auctioned at Christie’s on behalf of the family. The sale brought in $630.8 million, against an estimate of $462 million (excluding fees), bringing the collection’s cumulative total to just over $1 billion, following three previous sales in 2018, 2019 and 2023 that totaled $415.7 million. That makes it likely to be the most expensive collection ever sold at auction, following the late Paul Allen’s 2022 blockbuster, which was worth $1.7 billion. Of course, this total is accomplished in almost one sales season.

Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale also exceeded expectations, with sales totaling $490.3 million, compared with an estimate of $361.6 million before fees. (An Amadeo Modigliani portrait with an estimated $30 million estimate was withdrawn at the last minute.) The sale includes estates from philanthropist Marilyn Arison of Carnival Cruise Line’s Arisons, Lorinda de Roulet Payson, daughter of New York Mets founder Joan Whitney Payson, and respected arts philanthropist Agnes Gund, among others.

The top lot of the night was a work by Jackson Pollock No. 7A, 1948from the Newhouse Collection, became the fourth most expensive painting in auction history at $181.2 million. The 11-foot-wide canvas, worth a conservative estimate of $100 million, attracted no less than five bidders from 60 bidders in 10 minutes.

Christie’s global president Alex Rotter placed a bid of up to $152 million with dealer Iwan Wirth, who may represent Laurene Powell Jobs. The auction moved so fast that auctioneer Adrien Meyer announced the $1 million increments almost as fast as he was counting the seconds. Then Ana Maria Celis, Christie’s head of postwar and contemporary art from Venezuela, joined the fray, and she and Lott competed fiercely until Lott emerged victorious with a hammer price of $157 million. The Pollock buyer also purchased a previous lot, a work by Henri Matisse Black robe and purple robeIn 1938, it sold for $34.6 million against an estimate of $30 million.

Newhouse acquired the Pollock painting for an undisclosed sum in 2000 from then-Sotheby’s owner Alfred Taubman, who was facing huge legal bills in a price-fixing scandal. The artist’s previous record was $61.2 million for a smaller black drip painting on original black cloth at Sotheby’s in 2021, which was also owned by Newhouse.

All 16 works in the Newhouse auction were offered with irrevocable bids, meaning they were pre-sold to a guarantor who agreed to purchase the work for a minimum amount. In return, they receive a percentage of the buyer’s premium if the work sells for more than that price.

The second most expensive item in the Newhouse collection was a gilt bronze bust of Constantin Brancusi, which sold for $107.6 million Danaidthe company was sold to guarantors in just one bid, with an undisclosed valuation of $100 million. This makes it the second most expensive sculpture in auction history after Alberto Giacometti’s $141 million lot Give advice. Newhouse purchased the bust at Christie’s in 2002 for a then-record $18.2 million.

Another highlight of the evening was Joan Miró’s Portrait of Mrs. K.in 1924, the work was sold for an artist record of $53.5 million, against an estimate of $25 million. (The artist’s previous record was $37 million, set at Sotheby’s in 2012.) Newhouse purchased the painting from the collection of René Gaffé in 2001 for $12.7 million at Christie’s.

But not all works in the Newhouse collection were successful. Robert Rauschenberg’s 1955 combine harvester dike Revenues of $7.2 million narrowly beat expectations by $7 million. jasper jones Figure 21955, and Hutong Uppboth sold for less than expected in 1958, $10 million and $6 million respectively, as did the Roy Lichtenstein price. voodoo lily1961, estimated to be worth $6 million.

The top lot in the 20th Century sale was a commemorative painting by Mark Rothko, which Gund purchased directly from his studio in 1967 and occupied a prominent place in her living room for nearly sixty years. It sold for a record $98.4 million against an undisclosed estimate of $80 million. Three bidders competed for the work, led by Christie’s San Francisco managing director Kathryn Lasater, who bid $74 million, and Rachael White Young, a senior specialist in postwar and contemporary art who is known for her work with clients in Texas. Young’s client won the painting for a hammer price of $85 million.

Another work from the Gund collection, Joseph Cornell’s Untitled (Princess Medici), about In 1948, it sold for $6.9 million, more than double the estimated price. In contrast, the artist’s Untitled (Medici Series, Pinturicchio Boy), ca. In 1950, no buyer could be found for the estimated price of $3 million. it It was last sold at Sotheby’s in 2017 for $4.2 million.

“The market for great examples of historical material is very strong,” said Evan Beard of Evan Beard & Co. art news After sales. “An example tonight is the two boxes at Cornell University: the great princess soars, the lesser prince passes.”

Another example cited by Beard is Alice Neal’s Mother and child (Nancy and Olivia)1967, depicts her daughter-in-law and first grandchild. It was conservatively estimated at $1.2 million and sold for $5.7 million, breaking Christie’s 2021 artist record of $3 million. Christie’s co-head of auctions Emily Kaplan won a bidding war with Los Angeles managing director Sonya Roth.

The work has been in the same collection since 1984 and is included in the 2021-2022 traveling exhibition “Alice Neal: People First” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Beard described it as a “quintessential” example of the artist compared to the 1971 portrait, Timothy Collinsthe painting was withdrawn from Sotheby’s evening sale last week with an estimate of $1.5 million.

Classic Impressionism works surprisingly well. Claude Monet’s work was one of the great successes of the evening in this category. Vettey Pomier1878, once belonged to Gustave Caillebotte and has been in the Illinois Collection since 1969. It sold for more than three times its pre-sale estimate, selling for $19.6 million.

Ralph DeLuca, a consultant who works in New York and Las Vegas, won at least four works relatively cheaply on behalf of three clients: by Miró Portrait of Ramon Sanye (L’Orfèvre)1918, sold for $9.2 million; by Rene Magritte Lambelli1941, sold for $6.8 million; and Picasso’s Red powder cake1930, costing $2.6 million, and double female1930.

“Collectors have a lot of capital to play with,” Beard concluded in an article. art news. “They have psychologically adapted to higher interest rates. The stock market is at all-time highs and feels frothy, while the art market has returned to more attractive levels over the past few years. The bullish art market is back (but not for young emerging artists).”