Paris, 22 February 2021 - The two sessions of the sale of the collection of Christo and Jeanne-Claude closed at Sotheby's on the evening of 18 February 2021 on a total of 9.2 million EUR, with 100 percent of the lots sold. Across the two sessions, 373 lots were offered, and the white glove result more than doubled the pre-sale high estimate. Combined, Sessions I and II achieved 9,216,000 EUR (US$11,239,683) against a pre-sale estimate of 2.8 million to 4.2 million EUR. Seventy-five percent of the lots exceeded their high estimate, 54 percent of buyers were new to Sotheby's, and 40 percent were under the age of 40. Bidders came from 45 countries, with more than five bidders competing for each lot.
This exceptional result reflected the ten most sought-after lots of the sale, all of which surpassed their high estimates. The first part paid spectacular tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude, with record prices achieved for the studies for The Umbrellas, an installation of thousands of umbrellas standing six meters high, opened simultaneously in Japan and California across more than 20 kilometers in 1991.
The preparatory studies for the yellow California umbrellas reached a new record for the artist at 1.7 million EUR (lot 19), while the drawings of the blue Japanese umbrellas took 1.2 million EUR (lot 20). Both works, estimated at 200,000 EUR to 300,000 EUR, will join American collections. Before the auction, the previous record for Christo stood at 481,500 EUR.
Christo's historic work Package was sold for 520,700 EUR (lot 5, est. 100,000 EUR to 150,000 EUR), and the artist's preparatory drawings for the wrapping of the Pont-Neuf reached 472,300 EUR (lot 13, est. 200,000 EUR to 300,000 EUR). For four centuries this Parisian monument was a source of inspiration for artists such as Renoir, Pissarro, Picasso and Vallotton. Christo and Jeanne-Claude went further still, wrapping it in more than 40,800 square meters of fabric.
Sotheby's can also confirm that Christo's preparatory drawings for The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City, offered by private sale ahead of the auction, were sold to a private American collector. It took 36.8 kilometers of New York's most famous park to place the full set of 7,503 gates, each 4.87 meters high, made for Christo's celebrated 2005 installation. Other drawings for The Gates are held in the collections of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum, the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Other highlights
The Hoge armchair by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, one of the few possessions Christo and Jeanne-Claude took with them when the couple emigrated from Paris to New York in 1964, more than doubled its estimate to reach 214,200 EUR (lot 8, est. 80,000 EUR to 120,000 EUR). The couple had received the chair from the celebrated Dutch designer Martin Visser in exchange for one of Christo's Packages.
Lucio Fontana was among the very first people to acquire a work by Christo, long before their meeting in Milan in 1963. At the time, Fontana was 64; Christo and Jeanne-Claude had just turned 28. Before leaving Milan, Fontana had invited Jeanne-Claude to choose a work, and she selected Concetto Spaziale, Attesa, sold today for 920,000 EUR (lot 11, est. 300,000 EUR to 500,000 EUR).
The emblematic blue monochrome by Yves Klein more than doubled its high estimate to reach 436,000 EUR (lot 3, est. 150,000 EUR to 200,000 EUR). Yves Klein had given the painting to the couple in 1962 in exchange for a portrait Christo had made of Klein and his wife to celebrate their marriage.
A new world record for the artist was also set for William Copley, one of the couple's closest friends in New York. Lady Windermere's Fan, exchanged with the artist for another work in the mid-1960s, sold today for a record 252,000 EUR (lot 15, est. 50,000 EUR to 70,000 EUR).
The second part of the sale was crowned by a series record for an aluminum plaque from Jenny Holzer's Truism series, sold for 63,000 EUR against an estimate of 5,000 EUR to 7,000 EUR.
Selected results
| Lot | Description | Estimate | Price realized |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Christo, study for The Umbrellas, yellow California umbrellas | 200,000 EUR to 300,000 EUR | 1.7 million EUR |
| 20 | Christo, study for The Umbrellas, blue Japanese umbrellas | 200,000 EUR to 300,000 EUR | 1.2 million EUR |
| 11 | Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, Attesa | 300,000 EUR to 500,000 EUR | 920,000 EUR |
| 5 | Christo, Package | 100,000 EUR to 150,000 EUR | 520,700 EUR |
| 13 | Christo, preparatory drawings for the wrapping of the Pont-Neuf | 200,000 EUR to 300,000 EUR | 472,300 EUR |
| 3 | Yves Klein, blue monochrome | 150,000 EUR to 200,000 EUR | 436,000 EUR |
| 15 | William Copley, Lady Windermere's Fan | 50,000 EUR to 70,000 EUR | 252,000 EUR |
| 8 | Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, Hoge armchair | 80,000 EUR to 120,000 EUR | 214,200 EUR |
| Jenny Holzer, aluminum plaque from the Truism series | 5,000 EUR to 7,000 EUR | 63,000 EUR |
(Press Release)
