The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection Totals In Excess of $150 Million

Christie’s concluded the celebration of the magnificent offering of art and objects from The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection, across four live and six online sales. The auctions showcased an extraordinary cross-section of collecting categories including: English and European furniture and Decorative Arts;18^th– and 19^th-Century, and Impressionist landscapes and portraits; Chinese Works of Art; Jewelry; Handbags; Textiles; and Table Decorations. Each of the auctions was 100% sold. In total, the 10 auctions realized in excess of $150 million, firmly establishing The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection among the top three collections of both fine and decorative arts to sell at Christie’s, alongside The Collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé and The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller. Sale proceeds will generously benefit the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation for the Arts.

Volume 1 | Important Pictures and Decorative Arts, Evening Sale

The live series of sales began on the evening of Thursday, October 20 with the exciting announcement of the private sale of a lot from Volume 1: Venice, the Grand Canal looking East with Santa Maria della Salute by Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto. The work was acquired by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, through a donation by Diane B. Wilsey.

The first live auction and the sole evening sale in the series achieved a total of $79,408,900 with 100% of the lots sold, realizing 128% hammer above low estimate. Mary Cassatt’s Young Lady in a Loge Gazing to Right was the top lot, selling for $7,489,000, setting a new record. The work was acquired by the Pola Museum of Art in Hakone, Japan.

Volume 2 | Old Master, 19^th and 20^th Century Paintings, Day Sale

Friday, October 21, the second live auction featured 18th-Century Venetian views, as well as Impressionist and 19th-Century paintings. This sale was 100% sold, 145% hammer against low estimate, totaling $33,871,230. Paysage avec cyprès et oliviers aux environs de Nice by Henri Matisse was the top lot, selling for nearly 15 times its low estimate at $2,220,000.

Volume 3 | English and European Furniture, Porcelain and Silver, Day Sale

Saturday, October 22, the third live auction showcased an offering of furniture and decorative arts drawn from the ground-floor rooms of the Gettys’ San Francisco residence. The sale achieved phenomenal results: it was 100% sold, 264% against its low estimate, totaling $13,408,320. A Set of Twelve German Painted Panels, circa 1720, from the Getty’s dining room was the top lot. After spirited and competitive bidding the lot sold for $2,280,000, 10 times its low estimate of $200,000. The lively bidding brought strong prices for traditional English furniture, European decorative arts and Chinese Export porcelain. 

Volume 4 | Chinese Works of Art, English and European Furniture and Decorative Arts, Day Sale

Sunday, October 23, the final live auction offered fine art and objects from the intimate spaces of the residence’s principal suite, the library, and the upstairs bedrooms, including the Turkish Bedroom. The sale totaled $12,831,336. It was 100% sold. The top lot was A Very Rare Mother-of-Pearl-Inlaid Black Lacquer Softwood Recessed-Leg Wine Table, Jiuzhuo Ming Dynasty, selling for $630,000, more than six times its low estimate. The depth of bidding continued through the decorative arts, particularly for highlights of English furniture with strong provenance.

Jonathan Rendell, Christie’s Deputy Chairman, Head of Sales Curation, Americas, comments, “We are all immensely proud to have overseen a week of sales that has confirmed Ann Getty’s exquisite taste and singular eye for excellence. It is especially gratifying to see the strength in interest across the board from Chinese Works of Art, to English and Continental Furniture, to textiles, table decorations, and handbags. The Getty sales are proof that the market continues to value great connoisseurship and that quality is timeless.”   

Bonnie Brennan, President, Christie’s Americas, said, “This week, the world saw the passion, expertise, and creativity of the entire Christie’s team in action as we achieved wonderful results for a unique and sophisticated collection. Ann and Gordon Getty’s lifetime of assembling wonderful objects created a whole that was much more than the sum of its parts. This collection deserved nothing less than the best presentation, and that is what Christie’s always seeks to provide.”

Marc Porter, Chairman, Christie’s Americas, said, “As the momentum built over 10 auctions, Christie’s was thrilled to see the funding of the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation for the Arts increasing sale by sale. It is also important to note that museums purchased the two highest value paintings for public display. Supporting wonderful causes through successful sales is deeply meaningful to everyone at Christie’s, and we look forward to watching all the good work that the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation will do thanks to the Gettys’ generosity and the strong results Christie’s helped them achieve live in the saleroom and online.”

Christie’s looks forward to future sales from The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection.

RECORDS

Mary Cassatt’s Young Lady in a Loge Gazing to Right

$7,489,000

Jacques-Émile Blanche’s Vaslav Nijinsky in ‘Danse Siamoise’

$2,700,000

Jules Bastien-Lepage’s Portrait de Sarah Bernhardt

$2,280,000

Jean-Antoine Watteau’s Three Head Studies Of A Girl Wearing A Hat (work on paper)

$3,420,000

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About Christie’s

Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).

Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $200 to over $100 million. In recent years, Christie’s has achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction (Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, 2017), for a 20th century artwork (Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 2022) and for a work by a living artist (Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, 2019). Christie’s is also recognised as a reference for prestigious single owner collections, having auctioned 8 of the 10 most important collections in history.

Christie’s Private Sales offers a seamless service for buying and selling art, jewellery and watches outside of the auction calendar, working exclusively with Christie’s specialists at a client’s individual pace.

Recent innovations at Christie’s include the groundbreaking sale of the first NFT for a digital work of art ever offered at a major auction house (Beeple’s Everydays, March 2021), with the unprecedented acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. As an industry leader in digital innovation, Christie’s also continues to pioneer new technologies that are redefining the business of art, including use of hologram technology to tour life-size 3D objects around the world, and the creation of viewing and bidding experiences that integrate augmented reality, global livestreaming, buy-now channels, and hybrid sales formats. 

Christie’s is dedicated to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide, including achieving sustainability through net zero carbon emissions by 2030, and actively using its platform in the art world to amplify under-represented voices and support positive change.