Billionaire collectors boosted Christie’s $448 million postwar and contemporary art auction in New York on Wednesday.
Steven A. Cohen and Francois Pinault -- with a combined net worth of about $33 billion -- parted with significant paintings from their collections, according to people familiar with the matter.
The works -- offered anonymously as is common in the opaque art trade -- were among a trove expected to reap more than $1.3 billion at the semiannual Impressionist, modern, postwar and contemporary art sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips auction houses this week. Representatives for Cohen, Pinault and Christie’s declined to comment.
Christie’s results represented a 41 percent increase from last year’s event. The 71-lot auction set records for four artists, including living stars Mark Grotjahn and Rudolf Stingel. With more than half of the offerings backed by guaranteed bids, just three works failed to find buyers.
Here’s how they fared.
Steve Cohen
Chairman, Point72 Asset Management
Artist: Jean-Michel BasquiatArtwork: "La Hara" (1981)Sale price: $35 millionSale estimate: $22 million-$28 millionAuction record for artist: $57.3 millionGuarantee: Yes
Francois Pinault
Founder of Artemis, a holding company that owns Christie’s and that’s a controlling shareholder of luxury goods maker Kering