Status: 10.11.2022 07:49 a.m
It’s a record: The auction of the art collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018, passed the one billion dollar mark. And it continues today.
The collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018, is being auctioned off at Christie’s in New York, and the auction broke a record on the first day: the works of art achieved a total price of more than one billion dollars (around one billion euros). The auction house said five works each sold for more than $100 million.
According to Christie’s, the entire sale price will be donated to charity. The most expensive painting of the evening was “Les Poseuses, Ensemble” by the French painter Georges Seurat. The work is considered the pinnacle of pointillism and changed hands for $149 million.
Auction continues today
Paul Cézanne’s “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire” fetched 137 million dollars, which also means an auction record for the French painter. With the sale of paintings by painters Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt, new highs were achieved for works by the artists.
Only 60 of around 150 works from the Allen collection were sold on Wednesday, and the auction continues on Thursday. Despite this, the value of the collection has already surpassed the previous record for a private art collection at auction. In the spring, 922 million dollars were achieved for the collection of the US couple Harry and Linda Macklowe.
Allen left Microsoft in 1983
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died of cancer in 2018 at the age of 65. He founded the company with Bill Gates in 1975. In 1983 he left the software giant for health reasons and tensions with Gates, but remained active as an entrepreneur and investor.
Despite tensions with Gates, Allen signed his Giving Pledge initiative. The billionaire committed to donating a large part of his fortune.