Christie’s auction house in New York.
CNBC
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Auction house Christie’s just sold a painting for more than $100 million, despite officially keeping the artwork, buyer and seller secret.
In an interview with CNBC, CEO Guillaume Cerutti said Christie’s sold a painting at a private auction in January for “over $100 million,” but the auction house declined to provide details.
Art dealers familiar with the transaction told CNBC that the painting is Mark Rothko’s “No Euro in 2014.
Kenneth Griffin, the hedge fund billionaire and Citadel CEO, bought the piece from Rybolovlev last month. Griffin, a major collector of nine-figure works of art, declined to comment through a spokesman.
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin on CNBC’s Delivering Alpha on September 28, 2022.
Scott Mill | CNBC
The mysterious nature of the sale, with few publicly available details, highlights the rapid growth of private sales in recent years – a little-noticed and mysterious part of the auction world. In a private sale, a work is brought for possible sale to an auction house, which reaches out to its top clients and brokers a deal. Private sales have increased sharply since the Covid-19 pandemic as more collectors prefer discreet transactions away from the public.
Last year, Christie’s achieved $1.2 billion in private sales, up 49% from pre-pandemic levels, and increased sales at public auctions to $5 billion. Auction house Sotheby’s reported $1.2 billion in private sales, up from $1.1 billion in 2022.
Mark Rothko, No. 6 (Purple, Green and Red).
Private sales are particularly effective for sought-after masterpieces and can often eclipse top prices at auction. Last year, the most expensive work Christie’s sold at public auction was a Monet water lily painting worth $74 million. However, Cerutti said he sold a work at a private auction for an undisclosed higher price.
He said private sales work particularly well during times of economic uncertainty. According to ArtTactic, overall sales at major auction houses fell 19% last year.
“[Private sales] are the perfect market to be contrarian,” he said. “When the market is more difficult at auction, sellers or consignors may feel that there is a risk to them not selling the item, and if an item does not sell, it will be more difficult in the coming years to sell it. When the market is more demanding, private sales generally perform better.”
Cerutti also said customers like it “because it’s fast and confidential.” For Christie’s it is also a way to “reach the world’s best collectors.”
The $100 million sale could also be a positive sign for the broader art and collectibles market as Christie’s prepares for its spring sales. The auction of the “Sir Elton John Collection” of more than 900 items from the musician’s former home in Atlanta totaled $20.5 million – more than double the estimate.
The top lot was Banksy’s “Flower Thrower Triptych,” which sold for $1.9 million. A Rolex Daytona wristwatch with a leopard-print dial sold for $176,400, and a pair of silver platform boots sold for $94,500 – more than 19 times lower estimates. John’s beloved 1990 Bentley Continental sold for $441,000, well above its low estimate of $25,000.
Christie’s said more than 450,000 collectors and fans followed the auctions online in the weeks leading up to the auctions. According to the auction house, the live auction attracted almost a million visitors from around the world.
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2024-02-29 22:00:43
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