Paul Allen’s artwork fetches more than $1B at Christie’s auction

NEW YORK — Artwork from the collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen fetched more than $1 billion at Christie’s on Wednesday, setting a record for the most valuable single-owner art collection ever sold at auction.

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The first of two sales involving Allen’s paintings and sculptures topped a 6-month-old record of $922 million set at Sotheby’s, The New York Times reported. The collection was from the collection of Harry and Linda Macklowe, whose divorce settlement included the sale of their collection, according to the newspaper.

Allen died in 2018.

“Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version)” by Georges Seurat was the most valuable artwork sold during the first night of the two-day sale, fetching $149.24 million including buyer’s fees, Forbes reported. That figure was nearly five times higher than the 19th-century artist’s previous auction record.

Paul Cézanne’s “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire” sold for $137.8 million according to Christie’s, nearly doubling the artist’s auction record.

“Verger avec cyprès,” by Vincent Van Gogh, also broke the artist’s previous record, selling for $117.2 million, the Times reported.

“Maternité II” by Paul Gauguin sold for $105.7 million, just over three times the previous record for the most valuable work by Gauguin to sell at auction, according to the BBC.

“Birch Forest” by Gustav Klimt had a $104.6 million price tag and broke the artist’s previous auction record, the $59 million his “Bauerngarten” fetched in 2017.

More than 20,000 viewed the collection in advance, according to the Times.

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