{"id":6584,"date":"2025-05-13T19:12:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T19:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/christies-riggio-collection-and-20th-century-sales-net-489m\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T19:12:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T19:12:29","slug":"christies-riggio-collection-and-20th-century-sales-net-489m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/christies-riggio-collection-and-20th-century-sales-net-489m\/","title":{"rendered":"Christie\u2019s Riggio Collection and 20th Century Sales Net $489M"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Adrien Meyer sells the top lot of the 20th Century Evening Sale, Monet\u2019s Peupliers au bord de l\u2019Epte, cre\u0301puscule<\/em>, for $43 million. Courtesy Christie’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The marquee auctions may not have opened with much excitement\u2014especially if this week is meant to test the pulse of the market\u2014but Christie\u2019s highly anticipated sale of the Leonard & Louise Riggio Collection<\/a> and its 20th Century Evening auction<\/a> proceeded with muted bidding and minimal risk, ultimately delivering solid results: a combined $489 million total, with 99 percent sold by lot and 98 percent by value across both sales.<\/p>\n

\n<\/section>\n

Guarantees and irrevocable bids were clearly doing the heavy lifting last night, with more than half the lots already locked in by hefty third-party backing. Notably, despite the auction week kicking off just a day after the U.S. and China agreed to suspend their reciprocal, absurdly high tariffs that almost resulted in a trade embargo, bidding from Asia was largely absent; most works ultimately went to buyers in the U.S. or Europe.<\/p>\n

\n

SEE ALSO:<\/i><\/b> Ten Highlights From New York\u2019s Spring Marquee Auctions<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The evening opened with thirty-seven lots from the collection of Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio<\/a> and his wife, Louise, the longtime chair of Dia Art Foundation<\/a>. To secure what proved to be the most significant consignment of the past 12 months, Christie\u2019s played it safe, offering the estate an undisclosed guarantee and mitigating risk through irrevocable bids and third-party backers. The strategy paid off: the sale achieved a solid 97 percent sell-through rate, totaling $272 million against a $252-326 million estimate. Yet in practice, most of the lots appeared to follow the script, with top works landing discreetly on the phone with Alex Rotter<\/a>, recently named global chairman, while saleroom activity remained notably subdued.<\/p>\n

\"Piet\"Piet
Piet Mondrian, Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue, <\/em>1922. Courtesy Christie’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was true even for one of the evening\u2019s stars: Piet Mondrian<\/a>\u2019s Composition No. III, with Red, Blue, Yellow, and Black<\/i> (1929), a rare square composition of exceptional quality and one of the few of its kind not already held by a museum. Starting at $34 million, it hammered swiftly on Rotter\u2019s phone for $41 million ($47.6 million with fees), falling shy of Mondrian\u2019s previous $51 million auction record. A similar fate befell Ren\u00e9 Magritte\u2019s L\u2019empire des lumi\u00e8res<\/i>, a coveted example from the artist\u2019s most sought-after series. Despite its distinguished provenance (formerly owned by both the Rockefellers before the Riggio family) it attracted only a few incremental bids, selling once again via Rotter\u2019s phone line for $31 million hammer ($34.9 million with fees), the same price it achieved at Christie\u2019s last year. The result paled in comparison to the $121.1 million fetched by Maja Hoffmann\u2019s larger version from the same series in November, which set a record for both Magritte and any Surrealist work at auction. Both the Mondrian and the Magritte were almost certainly absorbed by their guarantors\u2014an outcome Rotter neatly summed up as \u201cthe art market in the real world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across the board, most works landed within estimate ranges or slightly below when measured by hammer price rather than premium-inclusive totals. The first lot to hit the block from the Riggio collection was a compelling Portrait de jeune homme<\/i> by Balthus<\/a>, previously on view at MoMA. Starting at $1.5 million, it climbed with minimal momentum to $2.7 million hammer ($3.34 million with fees), settling midway within its estimate. That pattern held through many of the sale\u2019s elegant Giacometti sculptures. Le Couple<\/i>, a lifetime bronze cast formerly shown at MoMA, opened at $2 million and hammered quickly at $3.5 million with Giovanna Bertazzoni<\/a> on the phone. The standout Femme de Venise<\/i> sold briskly in the room for $15 million ($17.66 million with fees), again landing squarely within its $15-17 million estimate only once the premium was factored in. The psychologically charged Annette Nu dans l\u2019atelier<\/i> also barely scraped its low estimate at $7 million hammer ($8.46 million with fees). All three Giacomettis were backed by third-party guarantees, which was likely a key factor in securing their sales.<\/p>\n

\"Andy\"Andy
Andy Warhol, The Last Supper<\/em>, 1986. Courtesy Christie’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A rare burst of energy came with Picasso\u2019s vibrant portrait of Lee Miller, which made its auction debut and achieved $28 million after fees. Otherwise, the remainder of the Riggio trove\u2014including works with museum provenance and strong exhibition history\u2014proceeded predictably, generally meeting expectations and closing to estimates only once premiums were counted. Magritte\u2019s Les droits de l\u2019homme<\/i> sold for $15.9 million (estimate: $15-20 million), while Rothko\u2019s moody Untitled<\/i> closed with minimal bidding just above its low estimate at $8.46 million with fees. Fernand L\u00e9ger\u2019s Les trois personnages devant le jardin<\/i>, a close sibling to a version held by the Met, sold for $8.1 million with premium, only slightly above the low end of its estimate. A monumental Barbara Hepworth<\/a>, acquired directly from the artist\u2019s estate, also stuck to the center of its range at $8 million, while Warhol\u2019s electric blue Last Supper<\/i> sold quietly for $7.07 million on the phone with Christie\u2019s head of advisory.<\/p>\n

By the end of the evening, enthusiasm had noticeably thinned. Less desirable lots slipped well below expectations\u2014including a more challenging work like Stan Douglas\u2019s A Luta Continua<\/i> (1974), which sold for just $12,600 with fees against a $60,000-80,000 estimate, and Ed Ruscha\u2019s Johnny Tomorrow<\/i>, which hammered at $800,000, falling short of its $1.5 million estimate even after fees. On the more contemporary end of the spectrum, the few artists included in the trove just barely scraped past their low estimates once premiums were added. The two Kerry James Marshall<\/a> works sold for $3,801,000 and $2,591,000, respectively, while the museum-quality Glenn Ligon<\/a>\u2014despite being previously featured in the Whitney Biennial\u2014encountered thin bidding and closed at $2,833,000 with fees, against its $2.5-3.5 million estimate.<\/p>\n

A similar trend continued in the second half of the night with the 37-lot 20th Century Evening Sale<\/a>, which closed with white-glove results, achieving a $217 million total and 100 percent sold by value, but only after the sudden withdrawal of one of the top lots, Andy Warhol<\/a>\u2019s Big Electric Chair<\/i> (1967-68), which likely failed to find a buyer due to its challenging subject matter, particularly for such high (undisclosed) asking price in the region of $30 million.<\/p>\n

The sale opened with nine top-tier abstract works from the estate of Anne Bass<\/a>. Here, too, guarantees and irrevocable bids played a central role, not only in securing the prestigious consignment but in ensuring solid results, most often within estimate. The first lot, Gino Severini\u2019s Danseuse<\/i>, with its dynamism of forms and colors and all the energies of futurism, successfully brought a flash of excitement to the room, landing after a flurry of bidding at $2.6 million ($3,196,000 after premium), squeaking by its $2.5 million high estimate. Momentum continued with Alexander Calder\u2019s elegant white mobile, which achieved $8.46 million with fees\u2014just over its $8 million top estimate.<\/p>\n

\"Gino\"Gino
Gino Severini, Danseuse, <\/em>1915-1916. Courtesy Christie’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several works followed the same tight trajectory. Morris Louis brought in $2.47 million, the first of Frank Stella\u2019s Itata<\/i> paintings reached $7.07 million and two Agnes Martins sold within expectations at $4.89 million and $1.62 million, respectively. Even the stunning Ellsworth Kelly abstract composition sold almost instantly for $3.7 million with premium, most likely landing with its guarantor. More surprising was the muted reception for the evening\u2019s centerpiece, Rothko\u2019s vibrating purple painting from 1952\u2014also exhibited in MoMA\u2019s historic \u201c15 Americans\u201d show\u2014which hammered at $32.5 million, under its on-request estimate of $35 million. Only after buyer\u2019s premium did it reach $37.79 million, technically clearing expectations but hardly commanding the room.<\/p>\n

One of the few lots to spark genuine competition was Frank Stella\u2019s Firuzabad III<\/i> (1970), a large shaped canvas of two interlocking circles. After an energetic battle between four phone bidders, it hammered at $2.7 million ($3.37 million with fees), well above its $2 million high estimate. But the evening\u2019s most sustained bidding war came later with Claude Monet<\/a>\u2019s Peupliers au bord de l\u2019Epte, cr\u00e9puscule<\/i>, which, after more than five minutes of tense back-and-forth between phones, hammered at $37 million ($42.96 million with fees), setting a new record for the artist\u2019s Peupliers<\/i> series. The work\u2014offered for the first time after being owned by the same family for three generations\u2014had been on long-term loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.<\/p>\n

\n

SEE ALSO:<\/i><\/b> Maria Brito On Why Smart Collectors Are Still Buying\u2014and What They\u2019re Skipping<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Elsewhere, Gerhard Richter<\/a>\u2019s moody Korsika<\/i> landscape defied its grey tones to achieve a bright result: $15.25 million, well above its $9-12 million estimate. The sale also underscored collectors\u2019 growing enthusiasm for visionary surrealists: Dorothea Tanning<\/a>\u2019s uncanny Endgame<\/i> brought $2.35 million (estimate: $1-1.5 million) and Remedios Varo<\/a>\u2019s Revelaci\u00f3n (El relojero)<\/i> hit $6.22 million, setting a new auction record for the artist. Near the close, a surprise came with Franz von Stuck<\/a>\u2019s Die S\u00fcnde<\/i>, which doubled expectations to reach $604,800. Previously held in the collection of the Prince of Serbia, the work achieved a new record for a work on paper by the Successionist artist.<\/p>\n

\"A\"A
Mark Rothko, No. 4 (Two Dominants) (Orange, Plum, Black)<\/em>, 1950-1951. Courtesy Christie’s<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, not all was sunny. In the latter portion of the sale, some works fell well short of expectations. Lucio Fontana<\/a>\u2019s cosmic Concetto spaziale, In piazza San Marco di notte con Teresita<\/i>\u2014a glittering combination of glass and paint\u2014sold for $7.54 million, less than half of the $14 million it brought at auction in 2017. Whether this signals a shift in fortune for the Argentinian artist or simply a too-ambitious estimate, the spotlight now turns to Fine di Dio<\/i>, a radiant gold canvas from Daniella Luxembourg\u2019s collection<\/a>, which will test Fontana\u2019s market again at Sotheby\u2019s on May 14.<\/p>\n

Overall, the first night of auction week confirmed what insiders already suspected: the market is a long way from its once-upon-a-time fireworks. With caution in the air, auction houses are playing it safer and smarter, leaning on strategy and heavy guarantees to offset risk and keep the spectacle alive. The show continues tonight, May 13, with Sotheby\u2019s Modern Evening Auction<\/a> and Phillips\u2019 Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Despite<\/p><\/div>\n