Brancusi, Miró, Pollock See Record Highs at Christie’s S.I. Newhouse Sale
Monday's evening auction achieved lodestar prices for works by Constantin Brancusi, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, and more
The S.I. Newhouse auction at Christie’s was always going to be remarkable, but just how remarkable was unknown until this evening. Christie’s “Masterpieces: The Private Collection of S.I. Newhouse” achieved a record price of $107,585,000 for artworks by Constantin Brancusi with the sale of Danaïde, a 1913 sculpture.
Danaïde was hotly anticipated since the announcement of the Newhouse sale. The work is notable for the groundbreaking, elegant streamlining of its features their bare essentials. Its promotional campaign included a Lee Miller-inspired video of Nicole Kidman circling the sculpture at Christie’s Rockefeller Center headquarters. The previous record for Brancusi was $71 million for La Jeune fille sophistiquée (Portrait de Nancy Cunard) in 2018.
An additional record price was reached within minutes, this one for work by Joan Miró. His 1924 Portrait de Madame K. sold for $53,535,000, beating Miró’s prior auction high by over $13 million. Perhaps the most palpably dramatic moment of the evening came during heated bidding for Number 7A, 1948, a large Jackson Pollock drip painting that was one of the most monumental Pollocks remaining in private hands before tonight. “Ooooohs” and “Ahhhhhs” could be heard from the live audience as the bidding went up, up, up to reach a total of over $181 million including fees. This is the highest amount ever paid for a Pollock at auction, although a his Number 17A reportedly went for $200 million in a private sale in 2015.
Other memorable lots this evening included two by Pablo Picasso. The first lot, a small 1907 canvas called Tête de femme, was special for being perhaps the closest that a 2026 collector can come to owning a piece of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, and this was reflected when it nearly doubled its estimate. Later, the bronze Tête de femme (Fernande) came extremely close to setting a new high for Picasso sculptures at auction.
All told, the total for the Newhouse collection came to over $630 million for 16 paintings sold in barely an hour. For comparison, the $1.6 billion Paul Allen auction a few years ago had 155 artworks in it and took place over two days.
Newhouse is a highlight of New York Marquee Week, which coincides with NYC Design Week and the New York editions of TEFAF, ICFF, and Frieze.
