In a surprise to no one, this month’s top auction lots were dominated by two marquee events: Christie’s sale of Impressionist works assembled by the late Texas oil magnate Edwin Cox and Sotheby’s record-breaking auction of the Macklowe collection.
Both were heralded as signs that the top of the art market remains strong (and maybe grew even stronger) amid an ongoing pandemic that has left many individuals in dire financial straits.
The Cox Collection, offered alongside Christie’s 20th century art sale, brought in a robust $332 million on November 11. (It was the second most lucrative evening for the house ever, just behind the 2017 evening sale in which Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi fetched $450.3 million.)
Highlights included three lots by Vincent van Gogh. Hugo Nathan, principal of the London advisory firm Beaumont Nathan, was identified as the winning bidder for two of them, including a garish portrait that outperformed its estimate by an eye-popping 567 percent. Meanwhile, the Getty in Los Angeles went home with Gustave Caillebotte’s Jeune homme à sa fenêtre (1876).
Just days later, Sotheby’s sold the show-stopping collection assembled by the bitter exes Harry and Linda Macklowe, who were forced to sell the works they had assembled over decades because they could not agree on what they were worth. The answer, it turns out, was a lot. The sale brought in more than $676 million, making it the most valuable in Sotheby’s history. And it isn’t even over yet: More works from the collection will hit the block in May 2022.
Below, see the most expensive works to hit the block in November 2021. Final prices include auction-house fees; estimates do not.
Mark Rothko, No. 7 (1951)
Mark Rothko, No. 7 (1951). Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Estimate: $70 million to $90 million
Final Price: $82.5 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, November 15, 2021
Alberto Giacometti, Le Nez (1947)
Alberto Giacometti, Le Nez. Conceived in 1947; this version conceived in 1949 and cast in 1965. Image courtesy Sotheby’s.
Estimate: $70 to $90 million
Final Price: $78.4 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, November 15, 2021
Vincent van Gogh, Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès (1889)
Vincent van Gogh, Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès (1889). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
Estimate: In the region of $40 million
Final Price: $71.3 million
Where & When: Christie’s New York, November 11, 2021
Jackson Pollock, Number 17, 1951 (1951)
Jackson Pollock, Number 17, 1951 (1951). Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Estimate: $25 million to $35 million
Final Price: $61.2 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, November 15, 2021
Cy Twombly, Untitled (2007)
Cy Twombly, Untitled (2007). Image courtesy Sotheby’s.
Estimate: $40 million to $60 million
Final Price: $58.9 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, November 15, 2021
Paul Cézanne, L’Estaque aux toits rouges (1883–85)
Paul Cézanne, L’Estaque aux toits rouges (1883–85). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
Estimate: $35 million to $55 million
Final Price: $55.3 million
Where & When: Christie’s New York, November 11, 2021
Gustave Caillebotte, Jeune homme à sa fenêtre (1876)
Gustave Caillebotte, Young Man at His Window (1876). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
Estimate: In the region of $50 million
Final Price: $53 million
Where & When: Christie’s New York, November 11, 2021
Claude Monet, Coin du bassin aux nymphéas (1918)
Claude Monet, Coin du bassin aux nympheas (1918). Courtesy Sotheby’s.
Estimate: In the region of $40 million
Final Price: $50.8 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, November 15, 2021
Andy Warhol, Nine Marilyns (1962)
Andy Warhol, Marilyn (9 Times) [Nine Marilyns] (1962). Photo: Richard Gray Gallery.
Final Price: $47.4 million
Where & When: Sotheby’s New York, November 15, 2021
Vincent van Gogh, Jeune homme au bleuet (1890)
Vincent van Gogh, Jeune homme au bleuet (1890). Image courtesy Christie’s.
Estimate: $5 million to $7 million
Final Price: $46.7 million
Where & When: Christie’s New York, November 11, 2021
Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982)
Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
Estimate: In the region of $20 million
Final Price: $40.1 million
Where & When: Christie’s New York, November 11, 2021
Jean-Michel Basquiat, The Guilt of Gold Teeth (1982)
Jean-Michel Basquiat, The Guilt of Gold Teeth (1982). Image courtesy Christie’s.
Estimate: $40 million to $80 million
Final Price: $40 million
Where & When: Christie’s New York, November 11, 2021
Peter Doig, Swamped (1990)
Peter Doig, Swamped (1990). Image courtesy Christie’s.
Estimate: In excess of $35 million
Final Price: $39.9 million
Where & When: Christie’s New York, November 11, 2021
Vincent van Gogh, Meules de blé (1888)
Vincent van Gogh, Meules de blé (1888). Courtesy of Christie’s Images, Ltd.
Estimate: $20 million to $30 million
Final Price: $35.9 million
Where & When: Christie’s New York, November 11, 2021