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World
Record Prices Set at Christie's Auctions
• Les femmes d'Alger (1955)
by Pablo Picasso was sold at Christie's in 2015 for $179m, making it the
most valuable of all 20th
century paintings sold at auction. Later in 2015, Modigliani's Reclining
Nude ("Nu Couche") (1917-18) was sold at Christie's for
$170.4m - the second highest price ever recorded.
• Three Studies of Lucian Freud
(1969) by Francis Bacon.
Sold by Christie's New York, in November 2013, for $142 million - now
the third most expensive work of contemporary
art ever sold at auction. It is also the world's costliest example
of portrait art.
• Nude, Green Leaves and Bust
(1932) by Pablo Picasso. Sold
by Christie's New York, in 2010, for $106.5 million. The second highest
ever price for a work of abstract art sold
at auction.
• Adele Bloch-bauer II (1912)
by Gustav Klimt. Sold by
Christie's New York, November 2006, for $87.9 million. The world record
for a work by Klimt.
• Orange, Red, Yellow (1961)
by Mark Rothko. Sold at Christie's
New York in 2012 for $86.9 million. Still the record for Rothko. The most
expensive example of abstract
expressionism sold at auction.
• Black Fire I (1961) by Barnett
Newman. Sold at Christie's New York in 2014 for $84.2 million. The
highest ever price for a work by Newman.
• Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890)
by Vincent Van Gogh. Sold by
Christie's New York in 1990, for $82.5 million. Still the world record
for a work by Van Gogh.
• Three Studies for a Portrait
of John Edwards (1984) by Francis Bacon. Sold at Christie's New York
in 2014 for $80.8 million.
• Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas
by Claude Monet, was auctioned
by Christie's New York for $80.4 million, still the world record for a
work by Monet.
• Green Car Crash (1963) by
Andy Warhol. Sold by Christie's
New York in 2007, for $71.7 million.
• Portrait de l'Artiste Sans Barbe
(1889), by Vincent Van Gogh. Sold for $71.5 million at Christie's New
York, in 1998. The world's most expensive self-portrait
sold at auction.
• Femme aux Bras Croisés
(1902), by Pablo Picasso. Sold for $55 million at Christie's New York,
in 2000.
Price-fixing
Controversy
In 2000, allegations surfaced of price-fixing
between Christie's and its deadly rival Sotheby's. Following the confession
and cooperation of a senior Christie's employee, the firm was granted
immunity from prosecution in the United States. However, several senior
executives from Sotheby's were fired, while both Alfred Taubman, the largest
shareholder of Sotheby's at the time, and CEO Diana Brooks were convicted
of conspiracy.
Auctions of Irish
Art
Christie's has achieved numerous record-breaking
sale-prices in London and Dublin for works of Irish
art by Irish artists, including:
• Three Studies for a Self Portrait,
by Francis Bacon.
$34,457,475 (Christie's London, 30 June 2008)
• Version No 2 of Lying Figure
with Hypodermic Syringe, by Francis Bacon.
$19.31 million (Christie's auction, New York, November 2006)
• Study from the Human Body, Man
Turning on the Light, by Francis Bacon.
£8,084,500 (Christie's auction, London, October 14 2007)
• Portrait of George Dyer Staring
into a Mirror by Francis Bacon.
£4,936,000 (Christie's auction, London, June 23 2005)
• The Whistle of a Jacket,
by Jack B Yeats, was
sold by Christie's London in May 2001, for £1.4 million.
• The Bridge at Grez, by Sir
John Lavery, was sold by Christie's
London in December 1998, for £1.4 million.
• Bowl, Eggs and Lemons, by
William Scott. Sold at Christie's
London, June 6 2008, for £1,071,650.
• The Honeymoon, by Sir John
Lavery. Sold at Christie's London, May 2006, £915,200.
Christie's Education
In addition to its auctioneering activities,
the firm also maintains an important educational division, called Christie's
Education, which runs accredited colleges in London and New York offering
Masters and Undergraduated Degree courses in Early European Art (Antiquity,
Middle Ages and Renaissance); Fine and Decorative Arts (15th Century to
the mid-19th Century); Modern and Contemporary Art; Postmodernist
Art; and the History of the Art Market, to name but a few.
Christie's Images
Christie's Images is the firm's
picture library, which owns a multi-million item archive of fine and decorative
art images, consisting of items auctioned in its sales rooms around
the world.
Art Loss Register
In association with Bonhams (the third
largest auctioneer after Sotheby's and Christie's) as well as members
of the insurance industry and various art industry associations, Christie's
is a shareholder in the London-based organization Art Loss Register
(ALR). Founded in 1991, the ALR is the world’s largest privately-owned
international database of lost and stolen art, antiques and collectibles.
It offers recovery and search services to private individuals, collectors,
insurance companies and law enforcement agencies. Reportedly, the ALR
has helped to recover over 1,000 works of art worth over $150 million.
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