Record Sales at Christie’s

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

It could not defy expectations, because expectations were so high, but Christie’s Impressionist and Modern art sale last night did break records, bringing in just over $491 million.

“It was the most incredible sale I have ever seen,” the charming (and exhausted) auctioneer, Christopher Burge, said afterward. “And I have been in the auction business for 30 years.”

Because of several factors, including much-publicized battles over restitution and the influence in New York of Ronald Lauder and his Neue Galerie, German and Austrian art were particularly hot last night. Many of the people packing the room were mostly there to see who would buy — and for how much — the four Klimts recently restituted to Maria Altmann and the other heirs of Ferdinand and Adéle Bloch-Bauer. When the first Klimt came up, the room went silent, and when the hammer finally came down on the fourth — “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II,” which sold for no less than a hammer price of $78.5 million — people applauded, then rose en masse to go off to dinner, although there were still 30 lots to go.

The auction’s dramatic success came in spite of a last-minute “tragedy,” as Mr. Burge referred to the decision yesterday to withdraw a famous Blue Period Picasso, “Portrait de Angel Fernández de Soto,” which had an estimate of $40 million to $60 million. Julius Schoeps made an 11th-hour restitution claim, and, though a judge on Tuesday allowed the sale to go on, Christie’s and the seller, the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, decided to withdraw the painting. Christie’s is planning to sue for damages.

The Klimts appeared to have been all purchased by anonymous individuals. The Neue Galerie, however, purchased one of the night’s other stars, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s spectacular ‘Berliner Strassenszene” for a hammer price of $34 million, well over the estimate and an auction record for the artist.

All of the Klimts brought high prices, but the bidding for “Adele Bloch-Bauer II” was particularly fierce, going back and forth between two telephone bidders.

Other works that brought prices well above their estimates were Giacometti’s “La jambe” — a single, attenuated leg — which sold for a hammer price of $7.1 million; Modigliani’s “Vénus” at $14.2 million; Picasso’s “Chouette,” a painted metal sculpture of an owl, which sold for $2.35 million, and a study for Mondrian’s “Broadway Boogie Woogie II,” which attracted animated bidding and sold for $2.9 million.

One of the most famous paintings up for sale, Gauguin’s “Lhomme à la hache,” was sold for a hammer price of $36 million — hardly shoddy, but just above the low estimate.

At a press conference prior to the auction, Ms. Altmann was asked why, having in the past stated that she wanted the Klimts to go somewhere they could be accessible to the public, she was putting them up for auction. “It is a difficult question,” Ms. Altmann said. “I’m not the only one. I’m one of several heirs and we decided to go ahead this way.”


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use