Christie’s Marquee Sales Were All About Museum Quality

Christie’s sales in New York last week were memorable for the museum-quality works acquired by husband-and-wife collectors: the Weises of Pennsylvania and Sefan Edlis and Gael Neeson of Chicago.

The Weises' Rothko, Picasso and Mondrian were the auction house's top lots, accounting for $130m in total sales when fees are added.

Overall, its six sales held from November 17-20 totaled $959m. Although that is an increase on recent comparable marquee sales in New York, it was still 20% below average.

When the auction house’s performance is benchmarked using 10+ metrics, they scored a B on the HENI Auction Index. It was an improvement on its C+ in May and in November 2024 and best for three years although it fell short of being truely exceptional.

The Weises' Rothko fetched $62m with fees. Backed by a guarantee, it sold for well above its reported estimates and led the single-collection auction on November 17. More of their works were sold in Christie’s sales on November 18 and 20.

Edlis and Neeson’s Warhol Last Supper, which sold for $8.13m with fees and backed by a guarantee, and a Cindy Sherman film still stood out in Christie’s 21st Century evening sale on November 19. The Sherman fetched just short of $2.3m with fees, soaring above its high estimate whereas the Warhol did not

The star lot on the night by a New York mile was Christopher Wool’s Untitled (RIOT) (1990), which sold for $19.8m with fees. His classic word painting was backed by a guarantee and sold for just short of its high estimate.

The total number of lots offered in the auction house’s sales during the week was 687, which is 10% below the average.

On a positive note, the percentage of those works selling above their low estimates was 6 percentage points above average. That said, the percentage of lots selling above their high estimates was in line with the average.

There were significantly more strong guarantees and irrevocable bids but at the same time there were also more weak ones, when works backed by guarantors sold below their low estimates.

The number of new artists’ auction records picked up but remains below average. Two that stood out were Olga de Amaral. The Colombian artist’s Pueblo H (2011) sold for $3.12m, more than seven and a half times the low estimate, beating her previous auction record by $1.96m, a 150% rise.

Firelei Baez broke the $1m barrier when a 2021 work on canvas sold for more than seven times the low estimate. It beat a record sale on the same night in New York at Phillips by $466,200, a 72% rise.

Another positive was the percentage of lots bought-in, which decreased to 11%, below the average of comparable sales, which is 16%.

Christie’s marquee week was its best in three years. While not exactly explosive, and inevitably overshadowed by the fireworks on Madison Avenue at Sotheby’s, a B on the HENI Auction Index is an encouraging sign the market may be on the mend.

Methodology: for how the HENI Auction Index classifies sales, see here