Digital Desk: The most expensive art collection ever put up for
auction was displayed by auctioneers on Wednesday. It belonged to Microsoft
co-founder Paul Allen and is estimated to be worth $1 billion.
The sale of five centuries' worth of iconic paintings by some of
history's greatest artists will occur next month.
The more than 150 pieces in the collection include creations by
Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Jasper Johns, and Vincent Van Gogh.
Vice-chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art at Christie's Johanna
Flaum commented, "I think this is a sale that sort of exhausts
superlatives."
"The most priceless collection ever sold at auction is this
one. It's a once-in-a-generation kind of thing."
Highlights include Paul Cezanne's "La Montagne
Sainte-Victoire," which is anticipated to bring in at least $120 million,
and Vincent van Gogh's "Verger Avec cypres," whose estimated hammer
price is over $100 million.
In 1975, Allen and Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft, and as the
business expanded into the computing powerhouse it is today, Allen amassed incredible
wealth.
He had acquired some of the most significant pieces produced in
the last half-century by the time he passed away in 2018 at 65.
Paul Allen is a very distinctive collector in that regard,
according to Flaum, who noted that the collection is reasonably diverse. The
previous most expensive collection sold at auction was the Macklowe collection
whose two tranches netted $922 million.
The auction will take place in New York on November 9 and 10.
All proceeds due to Allen's estate are to be dedicated to philanthropy, in line
with his wishes.
Parts of the collection will be available for public viewing in
Los Angeles, London, Paris, Shanghai, and New York ahead of the sale.
