#463
Must Be The Monet
Published:
Nov 14, 2022
Author:
Sarah Parsons Wolter
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This week marked the most expensive art auction in history, as Christie’s prepared to kick off the evening sale of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s personal collection.
With works including a Cezanne for $120m, a van Gogh for $100m, and a Klimt for $90m, many onlookers went into the week wondering how many buyers would be liquid enough to make a purchase.
The Bloomberg Billionaires List did not disappoint. In a year in which the world’s richest have already lost ~$1.6t – and an especially tumultuous week for political and crypto-related reasons – expectations for a $1b auction were far surpassed nonetheless. The two-part charity sale snapped up previous records, reaching more than $1.5b in total.
All of the aforementioned works and many more were sold as effortlessly as slices of Joe’s Pizza to first year IB analysts at 2am on Saturday – reinforcing the sentiment surrounding the value of hard assets in a volatile global market. As with any good investment, experts shared that rather than representing the art market at large, this was the confluence of exceptionally rare talent.
But perhaps most interestingly, even with this record demand and notable price appreciation over the 18 year (on average) holding period, Allen would have actually made more money buying an S&P index fund - a decidedly less fun decision. After all, art isn’t just about the money, and sometimes the ride is just as rewarding.
Portfolio News
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Must Be The Monet
Auction of Paul Allen’s collection will test billionaires’ buying power - All told there are 60 lots, which carry an overall estimate of $1b to $1.38b. (The following day comes a second sale with lower-priced works from Allen’s collection, with a total estimate of $58m to $87m.) This assumes, of course, that there will be bidders. Any mere billionaire can buy a $10m painting. But how many are liquid enough to spend $100m? And how many actually want to? Read more
Paul Allen’s art collection sets record with $1.5b sale - Mr. Allen’s trove surpassed the previous, $922m record set in May by New York real-estate developer Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife, Linda Macklowe. Whereas the Macklowe holdings were packed with midcentury masters and pop icons like Andy Warhol, Mr. Allen amassed a museum’s breadth of pieces, from old masters to impressionists to American modernism. The sale had been expected to reach $1b, the house said. Read more
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