With millions of properties, rare arts, NFT craze and even a trip to space, 2021 was marked by big auctions. Even the pandemic hasn't stopped the ultra-rich from buying unique items for their private collections. For most of the time, these auctions functioned in a hybrid model, participating partly in person and partly online. So, check out the top 3 of the most expensive auctions from last year now.
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Works by real estate magnate Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda Burg are among the most valuable works of 2021, driven by Sotheby's. The auction was divided into two parts, totaling 65 pieces.
The first part featured modern and contemporary art, with 35 pieces by artists such as Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti, totaling US$ 676 million, about 3.85 billion reais.
The most expensive work was a three-color painting by Mark Rothko, which sold for US$82.5 million. The second part of the auction was for Macklowe's collection, which will be auctioned in May 2022 and is on track to be the most expensive private collection in history.
A Sotheby's auction in Las Vegas in October 2021 raised nearly $110 million for 11 paintings, ceramics and works on paper by the Spanish Cubist painter, formerly owned by the MGM hotels and casinos Resorts.
The most valuable painting, a portrait of Picasso's lover Marie-Theresa Walter, sold for $40.5 million, at least 50% more than the original price. In addition, “Homme et enfant” was sold for US$ 24.4 million (almost 140 million reais) and “Buste d’homme” was sold for US$ 9.5 million (about 54 million reais).
In This Case, painted in 1983, became the second most valuable work of the young American painter who made history in New York as a street artist and graffiti artist, becoming one of the biggest names in Neo-Expressionism.
It was auctioned by Christie's in May as part of a series of three skull paintings. Thus, it only ends up losing in value to another piece from the same collection, called “Untitled”, which was sold in 2017 for US$ 110.5 million (approximately 630 million reais).
