When Abstract Dreams and European Legends Meet the Gavel in New York
Art auctions often promise drama, but Christie’s recent 20th century evening sale rewrote expectations with a $640.8 million total—its best non-single owner result in years. American abstractionists and European icons shared the spotlight, as works by Diebenkorn, Mitchell, Picasso, and Magritte soared past estimates.
A Cézanne consigned by Switzerland’s Museum Langmatt fetched $10.4 million, easing institutional woes and outpacing predictions. Meanwhile, Egon Schiele’s 1912 painting nearly quadrupled its high estimate, landing at $10.9 million. The night’s top sales included Monet’s shimmering water lilies at $74 million and a Francis Bacon figure in motion at $52 million.
Six artists, from Joan Mitchell to Fernando Botero, set new personal records, proving that both bold abstraction and storied European canvases still command fierce bidding. In the world of auctions, the past and present continue to collide—and the results are anything but predictable.
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