What Is Christie’s Selling at Spring Auctions in New York?

Highlights include the swirling grasses of a garden on the Seine by Vincent van Gogh and a spaghetti-esque abstract by New York painter Brice Marden, who died just last year.

Christie's has announced the highlights of its spring sales in New York City from 14 to 18 May.

The 21st Century Sale on 14 May includes 35 lots with a combined estimate of over U.S. $100 million.

The auction is led by Brice Marden's Event (2004–07), pictured top. The painting is one of three diptychs from the series 'The Propitious Garden of Plane Image'. Another is in the collection of Centre Pompidou, while the third, Complements, set the auction record for the artist when it sold for $30.9 million in 2020.

Other highlights include Jean-Michel Basquiat's The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in his Diet for over $30 million and two paintings by Julie Mehretu for estimates between $5 million and $12 million.

Leading the 20th Century Evening Sale on 16 May is Vincent van Gogh's Coin de jardin avec papillons (1887), which features blossom-like butterflies hovering over flowerbeds in Asnières, northwest of Paris.

One of around 860 oil paintings van Gogh completed before his death at age 37, the work carries an estimate of U.S. $28 million to $35 million.

Another highlight is Andy Warhol's 2-metre-square Flowers (1964) in radioactive shades of orange and red, which is estimated to fetch $20 million to $30 million.

After viewing the works at Leo Castelli Gallery, critic Peter Schjeldahl described them as 'so goddamn beautiful', 'so simple' and possessing glamour that was 'so intense' that they amounted to genius.

Pablo Picasso's Femme au chapeau assise (1971) and five works by Claude Monet also feature in the auction, which Christie's hopes will bring in up to half a billion dollars across 64 lots.

Artworks from both sales can be viewed in person at Christie's Rockefeller Centre galleries from 4 May. —[O]