Mackelowe Collection brings in $676.1 mn at Sotheby’s auction in New York

Auction of “The Macklowe Collection” at Sotheby’s in New York realised a total $676.1 million on its first night on Monday. This sale resulted from the divorce of a real estate developer Harry Macklowe and his wife Linda Burg in 2018, a wealthy couple who had an impressive art collection. The collection included Andy Warhol’s painting titled Nine Marilyns, Pablo Picasso’s Project pour un monument à Guillame Apollinaire figurine made out of welded steel and a painting by Mark Rothko.

The painting by Rothko titled N˚7 went for a record $82.5 million while Albert Giacometti’s Le Nez (The Nose) went for $78.4 million. Both these paintings were purchased by Asian collectors. Jackson Pollock’s Number 17, 1951 was sold for $61.2 million whereas C Twombly’s Untitled went for $58.9 million, as per Sotheby’s website.

Andy Warhol’s Nine Marilyns, which features a series of faces of the iconic American movie star Marilyn Monroe in black and white went for $47.3 million while his Sixteen Jackies, depicting the former US First Lady Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Kennedy, went for $33.8 million.

The auction sale, billed as the highlight of the 2021 Fall season, lasted for over two hours and 35 pieces out of a total of 65 works were sold, four of which were sold for more than $50 million. 200-300 people were allowed to attend the sale at Sotheby’s headquarters in New York after several online seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Acquired over the course of half a century, the collection reflects decades of pursuit, honing and refining, driven by immense patience and an innate understanding of quality. The sale of The Macklowe Collection will continue in May 2022, with even more blue-chip art coming to auction at Sotheby’s,” the website read.

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