Giovanna Bertazzoni, Vice Chairman, 20th / 21st Century Art Department, Christie’s: “Our strategic focus to present fresh artworks and collections delivered an unrivalled depth of bidding this season. Our 20^th / 21^st Century Evening Sale saw more than 50% of the lots offered selling for above estimate prices as the exquisite artworks we included in our dynamic auctions drove competition. Female artists, across price points and throughout the sales series, achieved record prices, as the artistic dialogues that our unique 20/21 auction platforms provide positioned pioneering Surrealists alongside the contemporary artists they continue to influence.”

The innovative and unique sale platform presented contemporary artists in the context of 20^th century masters, encouraging spirited bidding throughout the season

• Celebrating the 50-year legacy of Pablo Picasso’s extraordinary practice, Femme dans un rocking-chair (Jacqueline) (1956) led the sale season at Christie’s, realising £16,892,000
• A record for Michaela Yearwood-Dan’s Love me nots sold for £730,800 (estimate: £40,000-60,000), with over 18 active bidders
• Lucian Freud – Scillonian Beachscape and Garden from the Window, previously part of the Simon Sainsbury Collection, each sold for £4,602,000
• Alberto Giacometti – Chandelier for Peter Watson sold for £2,922,000
• In the artist’s 85th year, Georg Baselitz’s Frau Paganismus realised £4,602,000, while Elke I achieved £3,042,000. Both artworks were offered from The Hess Art Collection
• Following the record set at Christie’s in October 2022 for a painting by Tracey Emin, the artist’s I told you don’t try to find me realised £1,362,000 against an estimate of £500,000-700,000
• Liu Ye’s The Goddess drew deep competition with 11 international bidders, selling for £3,102,000 (estimate: £800,000-1,200,000)

Christie’s spearheads the market for private collections worldwide, and this season, the exceptional Memory of a Surreal Journey: Property from an Important San Francisco Bay Area Collection, defined by pioneering female artists, realised a total of £20,787,800. This was a focal point of The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale, which was 94% sold by lot overall

• Remedios Varo’s Retrato del Doctor Ignacio Chávez achieved £3,882,000
• Óscar Domínquez, Machine à coudre électro-sexuelle sold for a record price of £4,602,000
• René Magritte’s iconic masterpiece, Souvenir de voyage sold for double the low estimate to achieve £5,556,500
• Wolfgang Paalen’s Taches solaires achieved the world auction record for the artist (£756,000), shortly followed by a new level set for the second highest price for the artist (£504,000)

Revered provenance and rarity of masterpieces energised the saleroom at Christie’s

• Paul Cezanne’s L’Aqueduc du canal de Verdun au nord d’Aix (£7,159,500); held in the same private collection since 1920
• René Magritte’s Le retour, last sold in The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale by Christie’s in 2004, sold for £6,129,000, a record for a gouache by the artist
• Vincent van Gogh’s Kop van een vrouw (Gordina de Groot) held in the same private collection since 1903, saw competition from 11 bidders, selling to the room for £4,842,000, almost five times the pre-sale low estimate
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Jeune fille endormie (La dormeuse) (£4,962,000); never offered at auction before
• David Hockney’s Chair with a Horse Drawn by Picasso (£4,362,000), in the same collection for over 50 years
• Alexander Calder’s standing mobile from 1945 The Ghost (£1,122,000); held in the same private collection since 1947

Results across the Day Sales series reflected the continued appeal for pioneering artists and exceptional provenance across price points

• The Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale and the Impressionist and Modern Art Day and Works on Paper Sale were both led by pioneering female artists, highlighting the synergy between contemporary artists and their predecessors: Karin Mamma Andersson’s On Tenterhooks set a world auction record for the artist (£756,000), while a rare lifetime cast of Camille Claudel’s L’Abandon more than doubled its low estimate of £350,000 to sell for £831,600
• Bidders from 42 countries participated in the Day Sales series, highlighting the global nature of Christie’s auction platforms
• In total, seven further artist records were set in the Day Sales series, including Stella Snead’s Ritual (£75,000) and George Rouy’s Looking At Me Through Gaps Of Her Toes (£162,540)

Looking Ahead

• Christie’s Paris presents the live auction of Art Impressionniste et Moderne - Oeuvres choisies on 4 April, including Wave of Dreams: A Private Surrealist Collection. This is followed by Art Impressionniste & Moderne sale on 5 April
• This May, Christie’s is honoured to present Masterpieces from the S.I. Newhouse Collection. This single-owner Evening Sale in May will feature 16 exceptional modern and post-war paintings from the collection of S.I. Newhouse, one of the most celebrated, admired and influential art collectors of the 20th century