Paul Allen’s artwork assortment hauls in file $1.5 billion at public sale By Reuters

By Lisa Richwine

(Reuters) – 5 dozen works from Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh and different revered artists introduced in $1.5 billion on Wednesday at an public sale of a part of the huge assortment of work and sculpture amassed by late Microsoft (NASDAQ:) co-founder Paul Allen.

The whole represented the best quantity ever collected at a single artwork public sale, in response to the public sale home, Christie’s in New York. Proceeds might be donated to philanthropic causes in accordance with the desires of Allen, who died in 2018.

A number of of the profitable bids smashed earlier data for particular person artists and lots of exceeded the anticipated gross sales costs estimated by Christie’s.

Among the many priciest works bought was Pointillist pioneer Georges Seurat’s Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite model), an 1888 oil on canvas depicting three nude girls. It fetched $149.2 million together with charges, a file for a Seurat piece.

Cezanne’s “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire”, a colourful panorama painted from 1888-1890, bought for $137.8 million, one other file. And a Gustav Klimt 1903 portray, “Birch Forest,” set the excessive mark for a Klimt work, promoting for $104.6 million.

Different notable gross sales included the best worth ever for a van Gogh portray. The artist’s “Verger avec cypres” bought for $117.2 million. Paul Gaugin’s 1899 oil on burlap “Maternite II” fetched $105.7 million.

Work from Georgia O’Keefe, Claude Monet, David Hockney, Andrew Wyeth and Pablo Picasso additionally bought, together with sculptures by Alexander Calder and Max Ernst.

A 1905 print of {a photograph} by Edward Steichen, “The Flatiron,” bought for $11.8 million, a file for a Steichen work and almost 4 instances Christie’s highest estimate.

Extra items from Allen’s assortment might be provided at public sale on Thursday.