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Paul Allen's Art Collection Tops $1 bn at Christie's

'The Conversation' by David Hockney, part of Paul Allen's art collection, is on display at Christie's Los Angeles on October 12, 2022 Frederic J. BROWN AFP
'The Conversation' by David Hockney, part of Paul Allen's art collection, is on display at Christie's Los Angeles on October 12, 2022 Frederic J. BROWN AFP
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Paul Allen's Art Collection Tops $1 bn at Christie's

'The Conversation' by David Hockney, part of Paul Allen's art collection, is on display at Christie's Los Angeles on October 12, 2022 Frederic J. BROWN AFP
'The Conversation' by David Hockney, part of Paul Allen's art collection, is on display at Christie's Los Angeles on October 12, 2022 Frederic J. BROWN AFP

Paintings and sculptures from the collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen were auctioned off for a historic $1 billion Wednesday, Christie's auction house said, with records set for works by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat and Klimt.

At the end of the night Wednesday, five paintings entered the exclusive club of works of art sold for more than $100 million at auction, the New York auction house said.

The most expensive piece of art of the evening, Georges Seurat's 1888 work "Les Poseuses, Ensemble (small version)", a renowned work of pointillism, fetched $149.24 million, including fees, Christie's said.

The auction house had announced that all the proceeds would be donated to charity, said AFP.

While only 60 of 150 lots were sold on Wednesday, with the rest to be auctioned off Thursday, the value of the collection has already surpassed the previous record for the Macklowe collection, named after a wealthy New York couple, which fetched $922 million at competitor Sotheby's earlier this spring.

The two-day sale in New York came as experts say the super wealthy are viewing art as a safe investment this year amid a tumultuous global economy and Russia's war in Ukraine.

Allen made his fortune with the establishment of the PC operating system with his better-known Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 1975.

He amassed a huge art collection which he used to lend to museums before his death in 2018 at the age of 65.

Allen left Microsoft in 1983, due to health problems and a deteriorating relationship with Gates, who remained in charge of the company until 2000.

Despite their strained friendship, Allen signed Gates's "Giving Pledge" campaign and all proceeds from the auction are to be donated to charitable causes.

At auction Wednesday, French painter Paul Cezanne’s "La Montagne Sainte-Victoire" fetched $137.8 million, almost double the artist’s auction record.

A work by Vincent Van Gogh, "Orchard with Cypresses," broke the Dutch artist's previous record, bringing in $117.2 million.

A painting from Paul Gauguin's Tahitian period, "Maternity II," brought $105.7 million.

Austrian painter Gustav Klimt's "Birch Forest" brought in $104.6 million.

Another 95 works from Allen's collection go on sale Thursday.

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Tortoises at Philadelphia Zoo Become First-time Parents at Nearly 100

Mommy is considered one of the most genetically valuable Galapagos tortoises in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' species survival plan. AP
Mommy is considered one of the most genetically valuable Galapagos tortoises in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' species survival plan. AP
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Tortoises at Philadelphia Zoo Become First-time Parents at Nearly 100

Mommy is considered one of the most genetically valuable Galapagos tortoises in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' species survival plan. AP
Mommy is considered one of the most genetically valuable Galapagos tortoises in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' species survival plan. AP

A pair of critically endangered, nearly 100-year-old Galapagos tortoises at the Philadelphia Zoo have become first-time parents.
In an announcement Friday, the zoo said it is “overjoyed” at the arrivals of the four hatchlings, a first in its more than 150-year history. The babies are the offspring of female Mommy and male Abrazzo, the zoo's two oldest residents.
The quartet is being kept behind the scenes inside the Reptile and Amphibian House for now, “eating and growing appropriately,” the zoo said. They weigh between 70 and 80 grams, about the weight of a chicken egg. The first egg hatched on Feb. 27 and more that still could hatch are being monitored by the zoo's animal care team.
“This is a significant milestone in the history of Philadelphia Zoo, and we couldn’t be more excited to share this news with our city, region and the world,” The Associated Press quoted President and CEO Jo-Elle Mogerman as saying in a statement.
“Mommy arrived at the Zoo in 1932, meaning anyone that has visited the Zoo for the last 92 years has likely seen her," she said. "Philadelphia Zoo’s vision is that those hatchlings will be a part of a thriving population of Galapagos tortoises on our healthy planet 100 years from now.”
Mommy is considered one of the most genetically valuable Galapagos tortoises in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' species survival plan. She is also the oldest first-time mom of the Western Santa Cruz Galapagos species. The last clutch of such tortoises to hatch at an AZA-accredited zoo was in 2019 at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina. The San Diego Zoo, Zoo Miami and Honolulu Zoo also have breeding pairs.
The zoo plans a public debut of the hatchlings on April 23, as well as a naming contest.