It would seem obscene to any ordinary citizen, especially in times of recession, to watch an art auction when a galaxy of masterpieces from a constellation of great masters is put up for sale. The money went from mouth to mouth in the room as if it were a game of Monopoly.
The millions were even added five by five in the bid that was held this Wednesday at Christie's in New York, where the sale of paintings and sculptures collected by businessman Paul Allen, founder together with Bill Gates of Microsoft, broke all records by exceed 1,500 million dollars in collections. In just over two hours.
The 61 lots put up for liquidation on the first day dedicated to the legacy of Allen, who died in 2018, ended the mark established at Sotheby's last May. Then it reached 922 million with the art of real estate tycoon Harry Macklowe and his wife Linda, who marketed it as part of the very expensive divorce proceedings.
If the Macklowe collection contained numerous 20th-century masters and pop icons like Andy Warhol, Allen amassed a wide range of museum pieces, from Old Masters to American Impressionists and Modernists. From a mid-15th-century Botticelli Madonna that sold for $42 million ($48.4 with tax) to Wayne Tiebaud's Cafe Cart that went for $6 million.
A lot of expectation had been created. Christie's headquarters in the Rockefeller Center area of Manhattan, has had queues of two hours during the public exhibition of this treasure, including creations by Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí or Pablo Picasso, which from now on will be dispersed.
Georges Seurat's work Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petit version) was the most sought-after of the night, reaching a price of 130 million at the sound of the gavel, an amount that rose to 149,240,000 million when taxes were applied.
The painting 'La montagne Sainte-Victoire' by Paul Cezanne, for which he paid 120 million (137,790,000 with taxes) and 'Verger avec cyprès' by Vincent Van Gogh, which reached 102 million (117,180,000) were the other two occupants of the podium of the most valued.
Technically, two other geniuses must be added to this trio of “the 100”. Paul Gauguin and his Maternié II brought in $92 million in theaters and Gustav Klimt's Birch Forest brought in $91. However, when taxed, they rose to $105,730,000 and $104,585,000, respectively.
This sale was a record for a Klimt at auction. Previously, the maximum of this artist stood at 88 million for Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II. It happened in 2006, the same year that Allen bought the Klimt from him for 40 million.
In this perfect storm of dollars, there was a surprising detail. Until recently, there was a hustle and bustle in the room when a work entered the 100 million club. On this occasion, as if it were something assumed in an art world marked by high prices, nothing was heard when each of those records was exceeded.
In The Wall Street Journal, Alex Rotter, president of 20th and 21st century art at Christie's, assured that if Allen, from Microsoft, has already "changed the way we live our lives", now "he has changed the art market".
Oblivious to everything that happens abroad, the auction took place with a vigor rarely seen, with several open fronts by phone and in the room, whose attendees included the most important figures in the art collection and trade in New York .
The works paraded there, among them a family portrait by Lucien Freud (75 million, 86 with taxes), Waterloo Bridge by Claude Monet (56 million, 64.5 with taxes), Small false star by Jasper Johns (48 million , 55.3 after taxes) or Le Grand Canal à Venise by Edouard Monet (45 million or 51.1), and in each and every one of them the bid exceeded the valuation price.
The second day dedicated to the "visionary" Paul Allen, as this auction is called, will present the remaining 95 pieces this Thursday, with much lower prices.
There was unanimous applause at the close of the first date. Jussi Pylkkanen, from the auctioneer's court, had just announced the achievement of the record.
