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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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Varieties

Prince Harry Loses Legal Fight with UK Government over Police Protection

Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
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Prince Harry Loses Legal Fight with UK Government over Police Protection

Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Prince Harry says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

Prince Harry on Friday lost his legal challenge to changes to his security arrangements made by the British government following his decision to step down from royal duties with his American wife Meghan.

Harry, King Charles' younger son, had sought to overturn a decision by the Home Office - the ministry responsible for policing - which decided in February 2020 he would not automatically receive personal police security while in Britain.

Last year, the High Court in London ruled the decision was lawful and that decision was upheld by three senior Court of Appeal judges who said that, while Harry understandably felt aggrieved, that did not amount to an error of law in the decision.

Judge Geoffrey Vos said Harry's lawyer had made "powerful and moving arguments" about the impact of the decision about his security.

"It was plain that the Duke of Sussex felt badly treated by the system, but I conclude - having studied the detail of the extensive documentation - I could not say that the Duke's sense of grievance translated into a legal argument for the challenge to RAVEC's decision," he told the court, Reuters reported. 

Harry, 40, who now lives in California with Meghan and their two children, attended two days of hearings in person in April, when his lawyer told the court that he had been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.

His lawyers said al Qaeda had recently called for him to be murdered, and he and his American wife Meghan had been involved in "a dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi in New York City" in 2023.

"One must not forget the human dimension to this case: there is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security and whose life is at stake," his lawyer Shaheed Fatima told the court as Harry watched on.

"His presence here and throughout this appeal is a potent illustration, were one needed, of how much this appeal means to him and his family," she said.

However, the government's legal team said the bespoke arrangement for Harry, the Duke of Sussex, had positive advantages from a security assessment point of view.