On May 16th, Christie’s 20th century evening sale totaled $413.3 million, selling 95% of the available lots. The two-hour-long sale brought the week’s running total to $527.9 million (all prices include fees). The Rockefeller Center saleroom was packed, with global participation from bidders and buyers: 65% from the Americas, 8% from APAC, and 27% from EMEA.
The highlight of the evening was Andy Warhol’s Flowers (1964), which sold for $35.5 million after nearly five minutes of bidding. This work, a part of a series of bright floral screenprints, was made in response to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
In total, 15 of the 58 sold works achieved prices exceeding $10 million, with Georgia O’Keefe’s Red Poppy (1928) achieving $16.5 million, surpassing its $10 million–$15 million estimate. Other major sales included Vincent van Gogh’s Coin de jardin avec papillons (1887), which fetched $33.2 million, David Hockney’s A Lawn Being Sprinkled (1967), which brought in $28.6 million, and Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture, Femme Leoni (1958), which sold for $22.3 million.
Over the course of the night, three works were passed over, including Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park #12 (1968), Isamu Noguchi’s Untitled (1980), and Joan Mitchell’s Crow Hill (1966). One lot, Joseph Cornell’s Untitled (Medici Prince Variant) (1952), was passed over despite a bid of $480,000, below its $700,000 low estimate.
Two auction records were set at the 20th century evening sale:
- André Kertész’s Satiric Dancer (1926) realized $567,000, surpassing the prior record of $464,000 set in 2005.
- Alexander Archipenko’s Woman Combing Her Hair (1915) fetched $5.1 million, nearly doubling the previous record of $2.7 million set at Christie’s in 2005.
