On Thursday, November 10, 2022, Christie’s concluded Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection, a landmark philanthropic event. Visionary comprised 155 masterpiece objects spanning 500 years of art history. It was sold over a two-day series of auctions. In total, the collection realised $1,622,249,500, well in excess of the total high estimate. It was 100% sold. The regional breakdown by value was 33% Americas, 28% APAC, and 39% EMEA. There was great strength and depth in bidding across the collection, with an average of 5.6 bidders competing for each lot. Of all the registrants for the sales, nearly 15% were new to Christie’s.
Seven artists records were set in the second part of the sale:
- Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen, Typewriter Eraser, Scale X – $8,405,000
- Joseph Kosuth, ‘Titled (A.A.I.A.I.)’ [text-context] – $289,8000 – for work on paper
- Jacques Lipchitz, Figure – $4,380,000
- Nancy Rubins, Study – $23,940
- Mildred Thompson, String Theory 4 – $138,600
- Alden Mason, Sweet Encounter – $189,000
- Guillermo Kuitca, Diarios – $567,000