The Paul G. Allen Collection will always be celebrated as a monumental collection of masterpieces in support of philanthropy on a historic scale.
It's only been six months since the last auction hammer for the Macklowe Collection fell at Sotheby's, with a total result of $922 million – an absolute record in auction history. But in August, Christie's made an announcement that promised to eclipse that record: the auction of Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen's (1953-2018) exquisite art collection, estimated to be worth $1 billion.
See also: Paul Allen's $1 Billion Art Collection Goes to Auction
On the evening of 9 November, the first 60 of the 155 lots in the collection came under the hammer at Christie's in New York's Rockefeller Center, where around 20,000 visitors flocked to the exhibition over the past ten days to witness works by the big names from 500 years of art history, from Sandro Botticelli to David Hockney.
See also: Christie's Reveals More Highlights from the Paul G. Allen Auction
The high expectations were not disappointed, because all lots found a new owner and the estimated $1 billion estimate was already reached after half of the lots sold. The total was raised to $1,506,386,000 (122% over the low estimate) with proceeds going exclusively to philanthropic causes.
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A total of 20 new artist records were set, five of them in the nine-figure range: Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version) by Georges Seurat ($149,240,000), La Montagne Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cézanne ($137,790,000), Verger avec cyprès by Vincent van Gogh ($117,180,000), Maternité II by Paul Gauguin ($105,730,000) and Birch Forest by Gustav Klimt ($104,585,000).
See also: 10 Record-Breaking Artworks and Who Bought Them
Other auction records were set for artists including Lucian Freud ( Large Interior, W11 (after Watteau); $86,265,000), Edward Steichen (The Flatiron; $11,840,000), Jasper Johns (Small False Start; $55,350,000), Max Ernst (Le roi jouant avec la Reine; $24,435,000), Diego Rivera (The Rivals; $14,130,000) and Jan Brueghel the Younger (The Five Senses: Sight, Touch, Hearing, Taste and Smell; $8,634,000).
Most of the works on offer were well below their upper estimate, including Georgia O'Keeffe's White Rose with Larkspur No. I , which sold for $26,725,000 (estimate $6-8 million), and Andrew Wyeth's Day Dream (estimate $2-3 million), which also set a new auction record at $23,290,000.
The second portion of the auction, which was auctioned off in a day sale on November 10, achieved $115,863,500, bringing the total for "Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection" to $1,622,249,500. Once again, all lots were sold and seven more artist records were set; including Typewriter Eraser, Scale X by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen ($8,405,000) and Figure by Jacques Lipchitz ($4,380,000).
“The Paul G. Allen Collection will always be celebrated as a monumental collection of masterpieces in support of philanthropy on a historic scale," said Marc Porter, chairman of Christie's Americas, in a press release from the auction house. "Christie’s and the Allen Estate have set the world record for the value of a single auction, and it is deeply gratifying that we were able to do so for the benefit of others. Let’s all take a moment to recall that this was made possible by one man’s passionate pursuit of excellence, and his commitment to making the world a better place."
