Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale Achieves $219M

On November 9, Christie’s welcomed back collectors from around the world for the first time in-person to its Rockefeller Center saleroom, redesigned to present a fully hybrid and immersive global auction experience. Christie’s 21^st Century Evening Sale, launching Christie’s 20/21 Marquee Week of sales in New York was 100% sold, achieving a total of USD $219,278,750, and 114% hammer above low estimate, demonstrating strong demand from collectors and confidence in the market on par with pre-pandemic levels. The auction was led by the monumental canvas by Jean-Michel Basquiat, The Guilt of Gold Teeth, 1982, achieving USD $40,000,000. The sale attracted participation from bidders in 27 countries, with 58% of lots selling above the high estimate.

HUMAN ONE, the first hybrid physical and digital artwork by record-shattering NFT artist Beeple—his much anticipated follow-up to EVERYDAYS: The First 5000 Days– achieved $28,985,000, selling online to a bidder based in Switzerland, underscoring the power of NFTs to break into masterpiece pricing. Across the two weeks of the pre-sale exhibition, more than 1,600 visitors came into the galleries, and the artist made a personal appearance at Christie’s to engage with visitors and talk about his work. Another notable result was seen by Peter Doig’s Swamped, selling for $39,862,500 and setting a new auction record for the artist.

The first 13 lots from IMAGE WORLD: Property from a Private American Collection, inspired by the 1989 Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition on the Picture Generation, “Image World: Art and Media Culture,” sold tonight for $36.5 million. Twenty-eight more lots from the group will be sold in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on Friday, November 12, with additional lots from the group being sold in subsequent sales.

Ana Maria Celis, Head of the 21^st Century Evening Sale, Christie’s, commented: “Tonight, we were pleased to welcome live bidding back to Christie’s and we were thrilled to see the sale 100% sold, with ten auction records. We’re so proud that our innovative 20/21 sales format continues to provide a vital platform to showcase on a global stage the work of new and even more diverse artists including women and artists of color, which is what the market demands. We also saw a wonderful amount of excitement around three lots generously donated by the artists to support important philanthropic initiatives: New York City AIDS Memorial and ClientEarth. It was truly a phenomenal night.”

Christie’s was honored to offer three works in the 21^st Century Evening Sale to support important charitable causes. Works from Unquestioning Love: Artwork Sold to Benefit the New York City AIDS Memorial included Landscape by Nicolas Party achieving $3,270,000 a new record for the artist at auction and Dana Schutz’s Smokers, which sold for $1,830,000. Sixteen additional works will also be offered on Friday, November 12 in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale to benefit the NYC AIDS Memorial. Rashid Johnson’s Bruise Painting “Or Down You Fall” was sold after nearly five minutes of competitive bidding to a phone bidder for $2,550,000 to benefit the environmental charity ClientEarth. The sale of this lot was a continuation of Christie’s collaborative series in partnership with Gallery Climate Coalition to raise funds in the arts sector to tackle issues surrounding climate change, and simultaneously established a new record for the artist at auction. Following the sale of Cecily Brown’s There Will Be Bluebirds in London last month, this philanthropic initiative will continue with the sale of a work by Xie Nanxing on December 1 in Hong Kong.

21^st Century Evening Sale Artist Records

Peter Doig, Swamped, Sold for $39,862,500
Xinyi Cheng, Darling, Sold for $300,000
Hilary Pecis, Upstairs Interior, Sold for $870,000
Nicolas Party, Landscape, Sold for $3,270,000
Issy Wood, Over Armour, Sold for $468,750
Stanley Whitney, Untitled, Sold for $1,230,000
Jacqueline Humphries, Untitled, Sold for $687,500
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your Manias Become Science), Sold for $1,170,000
Rashid Johnson, Bruise Painting “Or Down You Fall”, Sold for $2,550,000
Kenny Scharf, Travel Time, Sold for $870,000

20/21 Sales Continue

Thursday, November 11

The Cox Collection: The Story of Impressionism | 7PM
20^th Century Art Evening Sale | approx. 8PM

Friday, November 12
Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale | 10AM

Saturday, November 13
Impressionist and Modern Art and Works on Paper | 10AM
Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale | 2PM