Christie's New York Impressionist and Modern Art Auction Totals Over $500 Million

On November 11, 2021, Christie's New York held a major auction at the Rockefeller Center, featuring the Edwin Lochridge Cox Collection of Impressionist masterpieces followed by a 20th-century evening sale. The Cox Collection, assembled by oil magnate Edwin Cox, achieved $332,031,500, with proceeds partly funding educational initiatives. Highlights included Vincent van Gogh's 'Meules de blé' (1888), which sold for $35,855,000—a record for a work on paper by the artist—and 'Cabanes de bois parmi les oliviers et cyprès' (1889) for $71,350,000. Paul Cézanne's 'L'Estaque aux toits rouges' (1885) fetched $55,320,000, while Gustave Caillebotte's 'Jeune homme à sa fenêtre' (1876) was acquired by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles for $53,000,000. The 20th-century evening sale saw Andy Warhol's 1982 portrait of Jean-Michel Basquiat sell for $40,091,500, Lee Bontecou's 'Untitled' (1959/1960) for $9,176,500, Cy Twombly's 'Untitled' (1961) for $32,000,000, Gerhard Richter's 'Abstraktes Bild' (1988) for $27,185,000, and Pablo Picasso's 'Mousquetaire à la pipe II' (1968) for nearly $35,000,000. The auction demonstrated strong live audience engagement, signaling renewed enthusiasm for in-person bidding.