Among the paintings and sculptures collected by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen were works by Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh.
Unlike many millionaires who invest in art, Allen had chosen the works in his collection himself. Paul G. Allen died in 2018.
A total of 60 works were auctioned at Christie’s in New York for $1.5 billion. At today’s exchange rate, the sum is almost the same in euros.
No single art auction has ever raised such a pot.
Record prices also for individual works
The price of five works reached over one hundred million dollars, which has never happened in a single auction.
More than half of the collection was sold at a higher price than the auction house anticipated. Bids came from customers from 19 different countries and the auction was watched by 2.2 million viewers on Christies’ different platforms around the world.
More works from the Paul G. Allen collection are also for sale today, Thursday. In accordance with Allen’s wishes, the proceeds from the auctions will be directed to charity.
