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Christie's sells $1.1bn of art in one night as Pollock, Brancusi and Rothko set records

Christie's sold about $1.1 billion of art in New York on Monday, May 18, across two evening sales, CNN reported. The first, Masterpieces: The Private Collection of S.I. Newhouse, raised more than $630 million in roughly 40 minutes; the 20th Century Evening Sale added about $490 million. The top lot was Jackson Pollock's drip painting Number 7A (1948) at $181.2 million with fees, far above his previous record of $61.2 million from 2021.

Constantin Brancusi's golden bust Danaïde sold for $107.6 million, beating his $71.2 million record, and Mark Rothko's No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe) from the Agnes Gund collection set a Rothko record of $98.4 million. Italy's Finestre sull'Arte listed further records for Joan Miró ($53.5 million), Alice Neel and Remedios Varo, and said 97% of lots sold. It is the second time Christie's has passed $1 billion in a single night.

“The extraordinary energy, lively bidding and $1.1 billion result speak for themselves.” — Max Carter, Christie's, via Finestre sull'Arte

Art Dependence counted eight new records and said Roy Lichtenstein's Anxious Girl ($46.06 million) had never before been seen in public. CNN also looked behind the result: actor Nicole Kidman appeared in a promotional video with the Brancusi, and only about 30 "whales" can swing a major auction, so the recovery may not last.

How each outlet framed it

• CNN — the records, celebrity marketing and a fragile market.
• Finestre sull'Arte — a full results table, in dollars and euros.
• Art Dependence — a record-shattering night with bids from around the world.

Where the numbers differ: CNN says a record 20,000 people viewed the works; Finestre sull'Arte says "nearly 20,000" over ten days. Finestre says the Newhouse collection has now made $1.05 billion in total, second only to Paul Allen's; CNN notes Allen's sale made $1.5 billion on its first night alone.