Art collection yields record amount

On November 9, Christie's auctioned the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen. The collection contained a total of 60 masterpieces, drawn from the last five centuries of art history. The end result: a return of historic proportions. In total, the auction raised approximately €1.5 billion.

In 2018, at the age of 65, Allen died of a rare form of cancer. In high school, the businessman met Bill Gates and together they founded Microsoft.  

Before the auction, more than 20.000 people came to admire the collection, which was briefly on display in New York. Although art lovers sometimes had to queue for hours, they saw this as the last chance to view the works before they disappear back into private collections. 

Dutch master

On the auction evening, bidding took place all over the world, with auction house employees placing bids by telephone to names of customers in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the US. Among other things, the Verger avec Cypres by Vincent van Gogh under the hammer. This was sold for  € 117 million; a new record for a work by the Dutch master at auction. 

Good investment

Allen's keen eye for art led to some good investments; so he bought Gustav Klimt's Birch Forest before and after, € 40 million, which last night for € 104 million were sold. The bestseller of the evening was Les Poseuses, Ensemble by Georges Seurat. This changed for hold € 149 million from owner. 

All proceeds from the historic auction will be given to charities, per Allen's wishes. The auction of Allen's collection will take place in two parts: an additional 95 works of art will be auctioned on Thursday evening. 

Live Stream

Watch here how the masterpieces went under the hammer on Wednesday evening.