Christie's to Auction Paul Allen's $1 Billion USD Art Collection
All sale proceeds will be dedicated to philanthropy.
Christie’s announced on Thursday that they will auction the art collection of the late Microsoft co-founder and former owner of the Seattle Seahawks, Paul Allen. The sale will cover a remarkable breadth of work, 150 pieces in total, spanning five centuries of art history.
The collection is estimated to fetch over $1b USD — the highest valuation for any private collection to ever hit auction — with full proceeds going to philanthropic causes, per Allen’s request before his death in 2018.
“The fact that it embraces five centuries of great art — from Botticelli to David Hockney, plus of course the very inspirational figure of Paul Allen, plus the fact that the sale is dedicated to philanthropy — we are really moved by this extraordinary project we are on. It’s something that’s very special,” said Guillaume Cerutti, the chief executive of Christie’s, in an interview with The New York Times.
Highlights of the upcoming sale include Jasper Johns’ Small False Start (1960), valued at over $50m USD, along with Paul Cézanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire (1888-90), expected to fetch over $100m USD.
“Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection” will hit Christie’s auction at the Rockefeller Center in November 2022.
For more on art, James Turrell will install a Skyspace at a children’s school in Manhattan.
