The Christie’s American Art department offers the finest paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the nineteenth through early twentieth centuries, including works of the Hudson River School, American Impressionism, the American West, Illustration and Modernism. Held three times a year in New York, our auctions attract a wide range of both private and institutional collectors. We also frequently achieve exceptional returns via private sales, including top prices for Norman Rockwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, John Singer Sargent and others.
Over the years, the American Art department at Christie’s has set more than 100 world records at auction, achieving record prices for important names ranging from Albert Bierstadt to Andrew Wyeth. In 2018, we sold an extraordinary $274 million of American Art at auction – a record year for the category at any auction house. This total included the $92 million result achieved for Edward Hopper’s painting Chop Suey – a new record price for any work ever sold in the category. In May 2022, we were honored to sell Emmanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware for $45 million which established a new record for any 19th century American painting at auction.
Our team also has unmatched experience marketing important private collections, having recently represented the top 2 American Art collections ever sold at auction – The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection ($123 million) and The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller ($107 million). We once again sold the year’s most valuable private collection of American Art in 2020, with The Legend of the West: The T. Boone Pickens Collection achieving over $20 million. Further to our success in the Western Art category, in May 2022 our team offered Stewards of the West: The Knobloch Collection which realized over $21 million.
As the consistent market leaders, our specialists are unrivalled in experience and expertise. Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free and confidential valuation or to discuss the market.