The property of the late Paul Allen, former co-founder ofMicrosoftDuring the month of November, more than 150 works of art worth one billion dollars were auctioned in the gallery.Christie’sIn New York.
The display would make these paintings the most expensive public sale for a single group in history, after beating the record set just a few months ago, when the estate of divorced couple Harry and Linda McCullough fetched nearly $922 million in several auctions at the House.Sotheby’s“.
Allen, who ranked 27th in the world’s richest person list when he died in 2018, was an avid collector, buying and selling at the height of the market. He was also the anonymous buyer in 2016 of Claude Monet’s painting worth $81.4 million, setting an auction record at the time. That same year, Allen sold a painting to Gerhard Richter for $25.6 million, doubling his money in just one decade.
$2.5 billion in two weeks of auctions in New York
Christie’s auction includes a Paul Cézanne painting worth more than $100 million, and a Jasper Johns collection that could fetch more than $50 million. The auction house said in a statement that the pieces span over 500 years and all proceeds will go to charity.
Allen’s sister, Judy, the trustee of his estate, wrote in a statement: “Art to Paul was analytical and emotional. These works mean so much to so many, and I know that (Christie’s) will ensure that they are distributed respectfully with the aim of raising enormous sums for charitable endeavours in accordance with Paul’s wishes.”
The New York Times reported on the auction earlier.