All articles tagged with #christies
A Jackson Pollock painting, Number 7A, 1948, sold for $181.2 million at Christie’s in New York, setting a new auction record for Pollock and highlighting a day of high-value results that also saw Brâncuşi, Rothko, Miró and Klimt achieve record prices.
Christie’s New York auction hauled in $1.1 billion in one evening, led by Brancusi’s Danaïde at $107.6 million and Pollock’s Number 7A, 1948 at $181.2 million, with Nicole Kidman starring in a promotional video for Danaïde as part of the Newhouse collection push—signaling a rebound in the top tier of the art market, even as buyers and observers note lingering questions about sustainability and the market’s long-term health.
Jackson Pollock's Number 7A, 1948 sold for $181 million at Christie's in New York, setting a new record for the artist and ranking as the fourth-most expensive work ever sold at auction; the sale from SI Newhouse's private collection included a Brancusi sculpture that fetched $107.6 million, the second-highest price for a sculpture at auction. Pollock's drip technique helped define abstract expressionism, and the previous pollock auction record was $61.2 million for Number 17, 1951 in 2021.
Christie’s in New York sold Jackson Pollock’s Number 7A, 1948 for $181.2 million and Constantin Brancusi’s Danaïde, from around 1913, for $107.6 million from the S.I. Newhouse collection, marking a high-end market rally as estates unlock prized works and set new records at the auction house.
A 5.5-carat triangular-cut blue-green diamond named 'Ocean Dream' sold for a record $17.3 million at Christie's Geneva jewelry sale, bought by a private client after about 20 minutes on the block; the stone, found in Central Africa in the 1990s, set a new high for its kind and surpassed its roughly $9–$13 million presale estimate.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla capped a whirlwind one-day New York City visit with a star-studded Christie’s reception, spotlighting the UK’s cultural ties through The King’s Trust as celebrities like Anna Wintour, Karlie Kloss, Lionel Richie and Nina Dobrev attended. The royals also paid respects at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Camilla toured the New York Public Library with Sarah Jessica Parker, and Charles bantered with the crowd about moon plans and other light jests, while Camilla met locals and Harlem Grown. This marked Charles’s first NYC stop since 2007, ending a high-profile trip that blended diplomacy, culture and public engagement.
A Paris charity raffle offers Picasso’s 1941 gouache 'Tête de Femme' as the prize for €100 tickets, aiming to sell up to 120,000 entries and raise as much as €12 million. Of that, €1 million goes to Opera Gallery (the painting’s owner) and the rest to medical research via the Alzheimer’s Research Foundation. The draw is on 14 April at Christie's Paris, with the artwork on public display beforehand; past raffles in 2013 and 2020 raised over €10 million for various causes.
David Gilmour's 1969 Fender Stratocaster, nicknamed the 'Black Strat' and used on Pink Floyd albums from 1970–1983, sold at Christie's in New York for a record $14.6 million, making it the most expensive guitar ever sold. The sale was part of the Jim Irsay collection and also featured other memorabilia, including John Lennon's piano and Kurt Cobain's guitar, with the 44-item auction totaling about $84 million.
David Gilmour’s iconic Black Strat guitar sold for $14.55 million at Christie’s in New York as part of the Jim Irsay Collection, becoming the most expensive guitar ever sold and surpassing Kurt Cobain’s record; the instrument, tied to key Pink Floyd tracks, was purchased in 2019 and its sale will support charitable causes.
David Gilmour’s Black Strat sold for $14.55 million at Christie’s in New York, as part of the Jim Irsay Collection, becoming the most expensive guitar ever sold and eclipsing Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana guitar sale. The instrument is tied to iconic Pink Floyd tracks (Money, Shine On You Crazy Diamond) and the Comfortably Numb solo, with Irsay having purchased it in 2019 for about $5.25 million.
A previously unknown red chalk foot sketch by Michelangelo, dating to about 1511–12 and linked to the Libyan Sibyl on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, sold at Christie’s for £16.9 million ($23 million), far above its estimate after infrared imaging helped confirm the attribution.
Christie’s features the Roger & Josette Vanthournout Collection as the centerpiece of its Modern Visionaries sale in London, spanning Surrealism to Post-War avant-garde with works by Magritte, Ernst, Kusama and others; the collection is being presented in three dedicated auctions — Evening Sale on March 5, Day Sale on March 6, and an online sale running Feb 25–Mar 10, 2026 — with global previews in Brussels, Hong Kong, New York and Paris.
Kurt Cobain’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ guitar and Ringo Starr’s Ed Sullivan Show drums are among the standout items in the Jim Irsay Collection, which Christie’s will exhibit in New York in March and auction across four sales, alongside other icons from Pink Floyd and The Beatles; proceeds will support mental health initiatives.
Christie's and Sotheby's ended 2025 with increased sales, driven by luxury goods, trophy lots, and private deals, with Sotheby’s leading in total revenue and record-breaking sales, reflecting renewed market confidence and growth in private and luxury sales.
Christie's is shifting its focus towards millennials and luxury goods to combat challenges in the traditional art market, aiming to attract a new generation of buyers amid industry struggles.