Rothko record at Christie's

The catalogue of several properties promoted by Christie's on the evening of 18 May added $490.3 million to the result of the Newhouse collection that preceded it, bringing the evening's total to $1.1 billion, one of the highest values ever. The overall realisation exceeded the pre-sale estimate, thanks to only two unsold lots out of the 48 remaining after the last-minute withdrawal of a millionaire Modigliani portrait, 'Almasia' from 1917 estimated at $30-40 million. Curiously, one of the two unsold lots was a 1944 work by Pollock which remained at the post at an estimate of $2.5-3.5 million, despite a record for the artist reached on the same evening. As many as 29 lots were protected by guarantees, including nine of the ten lots that crossed the $10m threshold, and such guarantees may have saved four of these nine lots from going unsold, while the 20 guarantees on the still-million dollar but lesser lots were not necessary. The bidding contests were concentrated on the 'smaller' lots, with a couple of exceptions.

The main catalogue item, a large composition by Rothko from 1964, arrived at auction after almost 60 years in the collection of Agnes Gund, who until her death in 2025 was a point of reference for MoMA New York. The provenance and strong presence of 'No.15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe)', a canvas over two metres in length, acquired directly from the artist in 1967, sparked a short-lived contention that led to the lot surpassing its asking and guaranteed estimate of $80 million to reach a new record for the artist at $98.4 million, surpassing the previous record for a composition far sunnier and more comforting than this later 'meditative' work.
The record lot was preceded by two works from the same collection. A distinctive 'box' by Joseph Cornell 'Medici Princess' from 1948 ignited spirits and surpassed the high estimate at $6.9 million, while later in the auction a second 'Medici Prince' composition from 1950, without the important provenance and only guaranteed by the auction house, remained unsold from an identical estimate of $3-5 million. A different reception for a large composition by Cy Twombly typical of his 1961 Roman period, which probably stopped at the guarantor below its low estimate of $40-60m, reaching $45.5m with commissions, the third highest price for the auction.

Anxious Girl', a recognisable Pop image by Roy Lichtenstein from 1964, narrowly beat the guarantee at $46m, after a couple of raises above the identical guaranteed estimate of $40-60m, while a 1963 'Double Elvis' by Andy Warhol, also in the Pop Art sphere, probably stood at $23m, or $27m with commissions. Also rescued from the guarantee was Renoir's canvas depicting little Nini Lopez with a floral bouquet, painted 1876-77, which fetched $24m from an estimate of $25-35m, reaching $28.2m with commissions.

In contrast, a classic Impressionist composition 'Pommiers, Vetheuil' by Monet from 1878, a serene landscape that arrived at auction with an estimate of $6-8 million with no guarantee, ended up fetching close to $20 million, thanks in part to its important provenance that includes Caillebotte. Several Impressionist works reported good results, including Le Dejeuner painted by Caillebotte himself in 1876 at $8.6m (estimate $5.5-7.5m), as well as works by Degas, Sisley and Pissarro that sold above estimate, confirming the global interest in this period.

In addition to Rothko, one of the most recent paintings in the catalogue, a double portrait of Alice Neel from 1967, the intimate 'Mother and Child (Nancy and Olivia)" fetched a record price, easily surpassing its estimate of $1.2-1.8 million to land at $5.7 million with commissions. Another artist whose market has seen strong growth over the past decade, Surrealist Remedios Varo, achieved a new record for a work on paper with a 1956 gouache composition 'Cosmic Energy' at $4.5 million, again from an estimate of $1.2-1.8 million. Matisse and Rodchenko also set new records for works on paper, at 4.8 million for a 1947 ink of the former and 1.5 million for the latter, respectively, surpassing the unnecessary guarantees. Results according to expectations with no particular interest for the other Surrealists Magritte and Dali, while three other artists, all with guaranteed estimates, are among the multi-million results with different dynamics: a classic floral composition by Georgia O'Keeffe from 1924 surpassed the disputed estimate by up to $13m, as did Agnes Martin's 1965 minimalist canvas at $9.2m, while the 1958 composition by Joan Mitchell, probably saved by the guarantee, which was sold at the low estimate of $10m becoming $12.1m with commissions.