Bidding representatives take bids from buyers during an auction from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, Tuesday, May 8, 2018, at Christies in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Twenty-two world records have been set at a Christie's auction, including the $832 million total for the priciest private collection of artworks and other treasures, owned by Peggy and David Rockefeller.
The late couple's family is donating all proceeds from this week's sale to charity.
The finally tally that ended Friday's sale in New York is about twice the previous record of $484 million from a 2009 Paris sale of designer Yves Saint Laurent's estate.
Christie's said all of the more than 1,500 lots had sold, with buyers lured by the Rockefeller name that represented American success.
Prices reached record highs for seven artists and items including a porcelain set and a swan decoy.
The top lot was a Picasso painting of a nude girl holding a basket of flowers that went for $115 million, against a pre-auction estimate of $100 million. A Monet canvas of his famed water lilies sold for $84 million - surpassing the previous $81 million high for the artist.
A Matisse canvas depicting a woman in a Turkish harem went for a record $80.8 million, topping the previous $48.8 million for the artist.
Christie's bolstered the auction by guaranteeing the whole Rockefeller collection, not disclosing the minimum price at which a work would have to sell or buyers' names.
A well-known Gilbert Stuart oil portrait of George Washington sold for $11.6 million against an $8 million estimate - the most ever paid for his work.
John Haynes Williams' whistling swan decoy went for more than $348,000, the most ever for such a decoy and the artist.
A 256-piece Sevres dessert service commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte sold for $1.8 million, a world record for 19th century porcelain that fetched more than six times its high estimate.
All prices include buyers' premiums.
Peggy Rockefeller died in 1996, and David Rockefeller in 2017, as the last surviving grandson of the oil baron John D. Rockefeller.
This image provided by Christie's Images Ltd. 2018, shows Pablo Picasso's 1905 painting "Fillette a la corbeille fleurie, (Young Girl with a Flower Basket)," hanging in the library of the Manhattan townhouse on East 65th St., that was the residence of David and Peggy Rockefeller, in New York. The art collection of the oil-family scion and his wife could raise more than $500 million for charity when it is auctioned by Christie's Tuesday evening, May 8, 2018 in New York. The Picasso painting, which has an estimate of $90 million to $120 million, will be sold along with hundreds of artworks including major paintings by Claude Monet, Henri Matisse and works by American artists such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keefe. (Christie's Images Ltd. 2018 via AP)
The Associated Press
This photo provided by Christie's Images Ltd. 2018 shows Claude Monet's, "Nymphéas en fleur," ("Flowering Water Lilies") painted 1914-1917. The painting, part of the collection of oil-family scion David Rockefeller and his wife Peggy, has an estimate of $50 million to $70 million and will be auctioned auctioned by Christie's Tuesday evening, May 8, 2018 in New York. Rockefeller, grandson of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, died in March at the age of 101. His family is selling the art collection to benefit cultural, educational, medical and environmental charities. (Christie's Images Ltd. 2018 via AP)
The Associated Press
Bidding representatives take bids from buyers during an auction from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, Tuesday, May 8, 2018, at Christies in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
The Associated Press
This image provided by Christie's Images Ltd. 2018, shows Henri Matisse's "Odalisque couchée aux magnolias," hanging in the Hudson Pines residence of David and Peggy Rockefeller, in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. The art collection of the oil-family scion and his wife could raise more than $500 million for charity when it is auctioned by Christie's Tuesday evening, May 8, 2018 in New York. The Matisse painting, expected to sell for $50 million, breaking the sale record for the artist, will be auctioned along with hundreds of artworks including major paintings by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and works by American artists such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keefe. (Christie's Images Ltd. 2018 via AP)
The Associated Press
This undated photo provided by Christie's Images Ltd. 2018 shows oil-family scion David Rockefeller and his wife Peggy. Their art collection could raise more than $500 million for charity when it is auctioned by Christie's starting Tuesday evening, May 8, 2018 in New York. Hundreds of artworks including major paintings by Claude Monet, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, from the collection are being sold to benefit cultural, educational, medical and environmental charities. (Christie's Images Ltd. 2018 via AP)
The Associated Press