Christie's held back-to-back evening auctions in New York, featuring the esteemed S.I. Newhouse collection and a 20th-century evening sale, achieving a combined total of $950 million (or $1.1 billion with fees). The Newhouse sale was a white-glove affair, 100% sold, though entirely backed by third-party guarantees. Highlights included Constantin Brancusi's bronze 'Danaïde' (1913) selling for $107.5 million with fees, a record for the artist, and Pablo Picasso's 'Tête de femme (Fernande)' fetching $48.3 million. Other top lots included works by Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró, Henri Matisse, Francis Bacon, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Jackson Pollock, with many going to anonymous telephone bidders.
This sale underscores the enduring strength of the high-end art market, particularly for trophy works from blue-chip estates. The record prices for Brancusi and Miró demonstrate sustained demand for modern masterpieces, while the reliance on third-party guarantees reflects a market where risk is increasingly hedged. The Newhouse collection, assembled by the late Condé Nast publisher, also highlights how private passion can drive public auction records, reinforcing the importance of provenance and connoisseurship in achieving top prices.