Livestream | The Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann Evening Sale | New York

Join us at 7pm ET on Monday, May 9th to watch The Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann Evening Sale LIVE from New York. The sale will be livestreamed globally from our salerooms in New York and Hong Kong, where clients can place bids.
This May, Christie’s is thrilled to present The Collection of Thomas and Doris Ammann, in a dedicated Evening Sale during spring 20/21 Marquee Week in New York. Throughout their lives, the brother-sister duo supported creative practices, leading artistic endeavors with passionate expertise. Leading this auction is the iconic Shot Sage Blue Marilyn by Andy Warhol - poised to be the most expensive 20th century work to sell at auction. Further highlights include masterpieces by Robert Ryman, Francesco Clemente, Sturtevant and Cy Twombly. All of the Foundation’s proceeds from the sale will benefit the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation, a newly established organization dedicated to improving the lives of children worldwide.

[@TheLaurenSizzleShow]

Thoroughly enjoyed this. This was great 😊

[@lindamon5101]

Fav piece?

[@TheLaurenSizzleShow]

@@lindamon5101 So hard to choose! I liked Basquiat, Disler, Bidlo and Kippenberger. Warhol is always a given for me. His work is priceless.

[@ibrahimali9117]

Am kinda mad, because basquiat's painting "skull" isn't the heights sold painting from an American artist anymore. 😅

[@HBCALIF92646]

It really takes guts to be a creator or consumer of modern art. Especially if you’re an artist, to continue to create while others are laughing at you and saying “a three year-old could have done that.” As a buyer, there’s less risk once an artist becomes famous. Kudos to the buyers who support the artists who haven’t got there yet-because they run the same risk of being laughed at as the artists.

[@stevenwaeyen9251]

Well said thank you for being a compassionate intelligent human being. Holy cow are KZbin comments hateful and ignorant thank you for posting something positive

[@jakemoeller7850]

Remember, folks, this was all for charity. Thank you to the brother and sister who donated these pieces! Well done!!

[@GAMASPLASH]

for charity??? LOL

[@MURZBO]

1:34:35 Ross Bleckner excellent work 👏 well deserved new auction record for the artist

[@davidhunternyc1]

Yes, his market has been suppressed for some time, considering he had a retrospective at the Guggenheim.

[@tothelighthouse9843]

It's an extraordinary personal collection belonging to the Ammann siblings (& their wealthy patron). As professional art dealers the Ammanns bought & sold early 20th century works with great success, but their personal collection is all work from the latter half of the 20th century. You can tell they collected for their personal tastes, passions & friendships. That quirky piece by Ann Craven at 1:13:22 sold for $540,000, almost 20x it's highest estimated price & a record for the artist's work. I believe Doris Ammann bought the painting directly from Ann Craven's NY dealer shortly after it was painted in 2003. At the time, Craven was still a relative unknown--I'm sure Ammann got the painting for a (bird) song. A few thousand dollars, anyway. After the auction, we learned the record-breaking Warhol Shot Marilyn was purchased by...Larry Gagosian. The same Larry Gagosian who sold the painting to the Ammanns in 1986. And the same Larry Gagosian who's so often credited (or disparaged) with turning contemporary artists into celebrities & pushing art prices into the stratosphere over the last 30 years.

[@studioandydna]

Lot 6A, Robert Ryman, Untitled was very exciting and got a proper price. A great work.

[@davidhunternyc1]

Of all the work here, my favorite was the salmon colored Cy Twombly. Loved the Brice Marden too.

[@BB1951]

The Shot Sage Blue Marilyn is a silkscreen acrylic from a photograph on linen. $170,000,000. Warhol must be laughing his ass off.

[@lindamon5101]

So inspiring!!!🌻💚🌻💜🌻

[@AX0LOTLZ]

Somebody paid 7 million dollars for a black piece of canvas lol

[@SP-fw1xe]

ALL of the money from the auction went to charity

[@DarcySteele]

I am glad it went to charity. But there’s so many things that look like it took them two minutes! I find abstract and modern art interesting and exciting, but I don’t get the scribbles or the monochrome canvases. In another auction, I saw where an artist had painted the canvas white, and then took like a knife or a box cutter and slashed it. The description tried to explain what the slashes meant like if all or horizontal and one is diagonal, I mean seriously. It sold for Millions and millions of dollars I just don’t get it! Sometimes I feel like they all drank the Kool-Aid! If any of you understand it, I would love to hear your perspective so I can learn.

[@davidhunternyc1]

​@@DarcySteele Monochrome painting was invented by the Russian painter Alexander Rodchenko in 1921. "Red, Yellow, Blue" is a triptych that caused a sea change in the history of art and was instrumental in breaking with European tradition in the United States. It's very difficult to create a new way of thinking the world and monochrome painting, along with abstract expressionism, ushered in a new American aesthetic. As far as describing how difficult it is to make a successful monochrome painting, think of it this way. Take two 12" X 12" canvases and tell your kid to paint one of the canvases black. Then give the other canvas to a skilled artist and tell them to paint it black also. Theoretically you'll have two exact black canvases. Not true. For instance, among the many different kinds of paint, you could use black acrylic paint or black oil paint. They are not the same. One will clearly be painted by your kid. The other painted by an artist who handles paint the way Beethoven composes music. At 54:50, the black Brice Marden monochrome, "For Otis," is an example. The issue is that most people don't know how to "read" paint. They only assimilate images. Being able to see a quality painting from a lesser one takes practice but, thankfully, great art is accessible to many people. It just take time and patience. Monochrome painting, however, like Impressionism, is an art form that has seemingly run its course. Little new content is generated from this form.

[@tilsgee]

which timestamp?

[@davidhunternyc1]

@@tilsgee It's an Ad Reinhardt.

[@sicsempertyrannis9024]

27:00 is the beginning of the auction

[@ОлегВолохов-ж8у]

100.000 for Monroe, some 2.000.000 for the Monet's Venice, other stuff for recycling and we call it a day.

[@stevecox7075]

What a magnificent collection!

[@ygorrodrigues7999]

Flowers my fav piece.

[@lindamon5101]

Flowers are always good! 💐🌻🌹

[@pjacobsen1000]

Auctioneer: "Where should we start the bidding"? Guy in audience: "How about $100,000,000"?

[@soupafi]

Alright then, 100 million

[@JudgeDredd_]

This is great fun!

[@maryoneal6345]

that marilyne pic i saw it at andy worhol museam in pittsburg copy of course but gourges

[@twt000]

Andy Warhol’s iconic “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” set a new record Monday night as the most expensive 20th century artwork ever to sell at auction. The 1964 work - a 40-square-inch acrylic and silk screen on linen - sold at Christie’s in New York for $195 million (hammer price plus buyer’s premium), the auction house reported. The buyer, who was present at the auction, was Larry Gagosian.

[@kimi9572]

isnt de kooning's painting is much more expensive?

[@twt000]

@@kimi9572 Interchange $300 Million, but this record for American artist. De kooning Dutch.

[@alschmidt1560]

Gagosian is going completely NUTS . . .

[@BB1951]

Reminds me of a trip to our local MOMA in Los Angeles. There was one exhibit of some colored fluorescent lamps. Casting colors.That was it. Amazing what people think is modern art.

[@thre4087]

1:45:50 Somebody explain to me how that is worth the 18 mil please

[@erancrouse4441]

Most people would like to own a Cy Twombly, and value will likely increase over time.

[@CDW98]

Money laundering

[@thre4087]

@@erancrouse4441 I was just a bit curious because of the estimate not being close to the price at all :) Thanks

[@thre4087]

@James Oliver James please I know we all enjoy art in a different way but in which world is this lovely, that looks like a 6 year old brushed around

[@thre4087]

@James Oliver Haha right didnt get that, my bad. I was just wondering because the estimate was way below the sold price, but you are obviously right, I am not able to judge that too

[@beeladyvicki8896]

Was it live or just shown from 20/21 season?

[@timothykozlowski2945]

There was some lousy paintings sold there.

[@BB1951]

Totally agree.

[@psychlord]

well my Marilyn in 2 other colors is pricey now

[@BB1951]

1:45 I will sell a section of my wall that a kid scribbled on. This is absurd.

[@DarcySteele]

I absolutely agree. I love abstract and modern art but I need someone to explain to me the difference between the scribble painting, and my three year old grandson’s scribbles. They said some thing like “that there is an overlay of the markings” I don’t know if they called them scribbles but my grandson can scribble over the same thing that he already scribbled. And I genuinely am asking this question I don’t want to be obnoxious. I just want to understand why a painting like this goes for so much money! The Basquiat’s are really interesting, but they seem very simple and I’m not sure why they’re going for so much money. I mean I’d hang one in my room but seriously.

[@정길주-w9p]

아주 멋찝니다~~~

[@omygod9062]

$170 mil…..when will art hit a billion?

[@diamond.hgp.]

Khi mà nó là tồn tại duy nhất và vĩnh viễn không một ai trong chúng ta có thể tái tạo hay copy chúng.

[@davidroahhandel3199]

I have agate stone from 1700 years ago. What price do you recommend?

[@w.urlitzer1869]

zero.

[@soniacomelli339]

♥️♥️♥️

[@ankles632]

This proves I am nothing but a cultural Philistine because I didnt see anything that I'd pay more than $20.

[@comtrariopereira]

Who will you be in humanity's history a hundred years from now?

[@BB1951]

3.9 M for a Brice Marden. Huh. No sale. Tell you what, I'll get a canvas, roller and black paint and sell it for a pittance. What am I bid?! 😁

[@DarcySteele]

Exactly!

[@CDW98]

Money laundering is just incredible

[@alschmidt1560]

Pssssssssssssssst ! It´s really such a dirty business . . . unbelievable . . .

[@wagstaffe7]

Why is this man always looking up at the ceiling? Is this some kind of high class mammerism?

[@ОлегВолохов-ж8у]

He is spotting the price on the screen in front of him above so there's no need to look back

[@shaunm3206]

How much of this money spent is dirty, rotten, you know,filthy money?

[@lindamon5101]

Dont worry, it has all been thoroughly laundered🤣cleansed by the tears of poverty

[@heathyenna5345]

What money isn’t dirty? Art if taken care of will outlive your ancestors.This is why civilizations exist.

[@SP-fw1xe]

ALL of the money went to charity anyway so

[@alschmidt1560]

@@lindamon5101 🙌 👏 🙏 🤝 👍

[@alphajava761]

Take the tax haven away from art!

[@alschmidt1560]

🙌 👏 🙏 🤝 👍Yeah man, lets free art of its dirty chains . . .

[@SnowWhite-hr4ho]

Waste of money

[@SP-fw1xe]

ALL of the money went to charity.

[@alschmidt1560]

@@SP-fw1xe . . but ONLY (and primitively) to lower IRS TAXES !!!

[@thenotoriousN.U.G]

FIX. YOUR. TIE!

[@vovodetna8828]

$3,900,000 paid for a totally black canvas !! Really ? What idiot bought this ridiculous item? (I can't even refer to it as a painting, but maybe a canvas covered in black paint.)

[@boyroyboy226]

Actually, it didn’t reach its reserve, no sale. It’s a passed lot.

[@vovodetna8828]

@@boyroyboy226 It appeared that this had been sold. But, if not, are you telling me that the reserve was MORE than $3.9M ?

[@boyroyboy226]

@@vovodetna8828 Yes, the reserve was more than $3.9M. The other Brice Marden work in the auction, sold for 8.405M

[@vovodetna8828]

@@boyroyboy226 Utterly absurd !! And thanks for the clarification. 👍

[@unamor]

I suggest a visit to museums to observe these types of monochrome works, or any other type of "ridiculous items", in person. It may not change your mind but I also promise it won't hurt to give it a fair try. 👍🏼

[@snakefinger]

1:49:27 GET SOME !

[@tilsgee]

ah yes. the main course. thanks