An auction of paintings and sculptures from the collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen fetched a record $1.6 billion over two days, Christie’s auction house said on Thursday.
The successful auction in New York, where five works fetched more than $100 million each, was a sign that the art market continues to grow despite global economic uncertainty in the wake of the Ukraine war.
It is reported that the record figure for an art auction had been set on Wednesday evening with more than $1.5 billion sold, Christie’s said in a statement. The second day of the sale on Thursday fetched $116 million. “The Paul G. Allen collection attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Christie’s galleries around the world, and has now made history, setting the record for the most valuable auction sale ever,” said Guillaume Cerutti, CEO of Christie’s, in a statement.