In the way that regular folk might collect post cards to bring home timeless images of the city of lagoons, its gondolas and its canals, the former partner of Bill Gates collected painted renditions of Venetian views, by some of history’s most famous and iconic artists.
Eight of these works were on offer the auction that kicked off at Christie’s in New York on Wednesday; a record breaking sale which brought in more than $2 billion.
Allen’s illustrious collection is now the most valuable single-owner art collection ever to be sold at auction. According to Forbes, some of the works that sold for the highest prices are as follows:
Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version) by French pointillist Georges Seurat was the most valuable work auctioned at the sale, going for a whopping $149.24 million, fees inclusive. This is approximately five times the amount of the 19th century painter’s previous auction record.
Cezanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire fetched $137.8 million, almost doubling the fauvist’s prior record.
Van Gogh’s Verger avec cyprès,Gaugin’s Maternité II and Klimt’s Birch Forest all followed suit in breaking the previous auction records of the revered artists’ work, selling for $117.2, $105.7 and $104.6 million dollars respectively.
Paul Cezanne's 'La Montagne Sainte-Victoire', which sold at the auction. (Photo: AAP)
Allen, who passed away in 2018, requested that the proceeds of the auction be donated to philanthropic causes.
Paintings by Claude Monet, David Hockney, Georgia O'Keefe, Andrew Wyeth and Pablo Picasso were also sold, alongside sculptures by Alexander Calder and Max Ernst.
Additional works from Allen's collection were presented to bidders on Thursday, the second and final day of the two-part sale.
