One of the big highlights of the 2021 autumn auction season was when the first part of the Macklowe Collection was auctioned at Sotheby's New York. Thirty-five works by the most important modern and contemporary artists went under the hammer on 15 November and all were sold, with four of them making it into the top ten most expensive works of 2021.
Before the first auction, the total value of the sixty-five-lot collection was estimated at $600 million. However, even this massive sum could not match the result that the 35 works achieved in the end: $676.1 million, making the Macklowe Collection the most valuable collection ever sold.
“The extraordinary results we saw in November speak both to the exceptional caliber of the collection as well as to the boundless appetite that exists today in what is undoubtedly a deep market for masterpieces," said MariI-Claudia Jimenez, Sotheby's Chairman, Managing Director & Worldwide Head of Business Development for Global Fine Art.
See also: The 10 Most Expensive Living Artists
Now, the thirty remaining artworks of the collection will go under the hammer at Sotheby's New York on 16 May. Here are the artists and their works that are headed to auction:
Andy Warhol (Self-Portrait, 1986; estimate $15-20 million),
Mark Rothko (Untitled, 1960; estimate $35-50 million),
Gerhard Richter (Seascape, 1975; estimate $23-35 million),
Alberto Giacometti (Diego sur stèle II, 1958; estimate $7-10 million),
Jean Dubuffet (Grand Nu Charbonneux, 1944; estimate $4-6 million),
Agnes Martin (Untitled #11, 1985; estimate $4-6 million),
Robert Ryman, (Swift, 2002; estimate $8-12 million),
Sigmar Polke (Plastic Tubs, 1964; estimate $3.5-4.5 million and The Copyist, 1982; estimate $3-4 million),
Jeff Koons (New Hoover Convertibles, New Shelton Wet/Dry 10 Gallon Doubledecker, 1981 -1986; estimate $3.5-4.5 million),
Willem de Kooning (Untitled, 1961; estimate $7-10 million),
Mark Grotjahn (Untitled (Side Swiped and Carved Face 41.32), 2010; estimate $6-8 million),
Pablo Picasso (Jeune homme, 1958; estimate $1-1.5 million).
“The Macklowe Collection tells the story of art in its highest form, with the utmost precision and clarity," says Brooke Lampley, Sotheby's Chairman & Worldwide Head of Sales for Global Fine Art. "Every artist here is represented at a moment of profound creativity."
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