THE 20th Century evening sale and the sale of the Cox Collection achieved a total of $751.9 million at Christie’s in New York last night. The Cox Collection made $332,031,500 and was 100% sold, selling 160% against low estimate and 91% lots sold above high estimate. The 20th Century Evening Sale totaled $419,866,500, selling 92% by lot 96% by value, 113% sold against low estimate.
The Cox Collection was highlighted by three works by Vincent van Gogh. The sale was headlined by van Gogh’s 1889 masterpiece Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers, which, after a five-minute battle between eleven bidders, sold for $71,350,000—the fourth highest price for the artist at auction—to a client in the room. The 1890 van Gogh oil painting Jeune homme au bleuet sold for $46,732,500 after nine and a half minutes of fierce and competitive bidding against a low estimate of $5,000,000. Van Gogh’s watercolor Meules de blé sold for $35,855,000 to a buyer in the room, setting a new record for a work on paper. Another exceptional price was achieved by Paul Cézanne’s L’Estaque aux toits rouges, which sold for $55,310,000 against a low estimate of $35,000,000. The Cox Collection saw global participation of bidders coming from 27 countries, with 52% sold by lot to the Americas, 35% to Europe and 13% to Asia.
The top lot at the 20th Century sale was Andy Warhol’s 1982 portrait of fellow artist Jean–Michel Basquiat from the collection of Peter Brant, which achieved $40,091,500. Notable results came from artworks spanning a multitude of genres, including Cy Twombly’s 1961 painting Untitled, which realised $32,000,000 and two Picasso paintings including Mousquetaire à la Pipe, which sold for $34,710,000—the highest price achieved for a work within Picasso’s Musketeer series—and 1955 portrait Femme accroupie en costume turc (Jacqueline) from the Stella Collection, which sold for $25,550,000.
The running total for Christie’s November marquee week of sales in New York stands at $971,176,750.