Paul G. Allen’s Art at Christie’s Tops $1.5 Billion, Cracking Records
Paul G. Allen’s Art at Christie’s Tops $1.5 Billion, Cracking Records
By
February 2, 2011
“The record of the greatest auction ever is the art of the greatest auctioneer in the history of the world.”– Art Broker
Over the past several years, Paul G. Allen has established an impressive track record as a pioneer of the art world. In 2007, Allen was awarded the title Auctions Champion of the Year by Art Market Watch. In 2008, Allen opened an impressive art show at Christie’s in New York City with the purchase of The Mound by James Earle Fraser. Also in 2008, Allen was featured in a feature article in the July/August issue of Business Art Quarterly, the “leading art journal dedicated to art business.”
It was a fitting time to revisit the Art at Christie’s auction in New York on February 8, 2011. The auction was the third and final art sale by Allen in 2011 and the largest of all the sales in the auction program, with nearly $1.5 billion in sales, the highest total for a single auction until Christie’s London sold art in July of 2011.
This auction is especially impressive because it was the culmination of a year-long search by Allen for “old masters, for rare and extraordinary art and for the ‘hidden treasure’ of humanity” (Art Broker, May 7, 2011) and the result of many months of negotiations with his wife, Diane Paul, the world-renowned art dealer, who became the first consignor in 2010 and bought the Mound.
Also included in the catalog with the Mound were the very earliest works of American art, including work from the 17th century, which are very difficult for a collector to acquire, if
