A collection of iconic 20th-century artists fetches $ 676 million at auction in New York

The auction of works by great artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol or Pablo Picasso by Sotheby’s house reached 676 million dollars this Monday, above the expectations set by the firm, in an evening in which several works such as Pollock’s “Number 17”, sold for $ 61.2 million, broke the artist’s record in a bid.

A total of 35 lots of the collection that the billionaire Harry Macklowe has put up for sale after his divorce, were auctioned before a crowded room of interested parties and in which representatives of sellers who bid by telephone from London and Hong Kong animated the session spurring the prices of many of the lots.

An example of the 24 works whose final price broke the ceiling set by the organizers was “Untitled XXXIII”, by Willem De Kooning, whose value had been calculated by Sotheby’s between 12 and 18 million, but that reached 24,323,000 after have five buyers compete to take the canvas.

Pollock record

“Number 17”, executed in 1951 by Pollock was the eleventh batch to go on sale and is part of the so-called “Black Paintings” of abstract expressionism that the artist embodied.

The auction house estimated that it would reach an amount between 25 and 35 million, a maximum that exceeded 26 million, after the hammer price (53 million) was added taxes.

Likewise, he highlighted the table entitled “No. 7 ″ by painter Mark Rothko that reached the second highest price paid at auction for a work by the artist.

The work, executed in 1951, the year in which the American painter reached his artistic maturity and which includes a delicate range of lavender, green and orange, was acquired for a price of 89.3 million dollars.

Its sale, which was set at the fall of the hammer at $ 77,500,000 (82.5 after taxes), was also followed by the applause of the attendees, although in this case it did not exceed the 90 million maximum that it had set. Sotheby’s.

The work “Figure”, by Pablo Picasso, was another of the lots that exceeded the highest price that the auction house had, 25 million dollars.

This work by the Spanish artist, a project for a monument to Guillaume Apollinaire was sold for 27,265,000 million.

Other big breakthrough artists included Andy Warhol, whose “Sixteen Jackies” sold for $ 33,872,250, 13 million more than the expected maximum, as well as Jeff Koons, whose work Aqualung, valued at between 8 and 12 million, was sold for $ 33,872,250. sold for 15.2.

Maximum prices set by other artists

Although with a more modest price than the previous ones, Robert Irwin’s “Untitled” work not only exceeded Sotheby’s best expectations, but with a sale price of 8.7 million (2.7 million more than the estimated maximum ) became Irwin’s most expensive sale at auction.

Michael Heizers’ “Track Painting” sold for $ 1.1 million also marked an all-time high for the artist in bidding, although its price did not exceed the 1.2 million ceiling that Sotheby’s had estimated.

Another of the great works put up for sale was the sculpture “Le Nez”, composed by Alberto Giacometti in 1949, and which despite reaching the astronomical figure of 78.4 million, did not exceed the maximum set by the house, which had valued the work between 70 and 90 million.

The Macklowe Collection

The auction of the Macklowe collection, described as “historic” by the organizers, marks the trigger for the fall season of Sotheby’s that could become the “most valued in the history” of the auction house since the set of the works exceed 1,000 million dollars.

Macklowe, promoter of some of the most emblematic and discussed skyscrapers of recent years in New York, put these works to the vein after his high-profile divorce from Linda Burg in 2019.

But in addition, this autumn collection contains numerous works by other collectors, some anonymous and others known as Douglas Cramen or Brillenbourg-Capriles, the latter considered one of the most complete compilations of Latin American art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Among the works that will be auctioned this week is the self-portrait of Frida Kahlo “Diego and I” (by an anonymous collector), which despite its small size is worth $ 30 million.

Sculptures by Henry Moore or Alexander Calder, oil paintings by Siqueiros or Oswaldo Guayasamín, enlarged comics by Alberl Liechtenstein, a reproduction of a mural by Bansky and works by De Kooning, Botero, Degas and many other relevant names in the history of the 20th century and XXI will be put on sale in this market where everyone can contemplate for a few moments the works that a few privileged people will take home. (I)