On the evening of November 8, Sotheby's auctioned what was the premiere single-owner collection of the fall 2023 auction season: art patron Emily Fisher Landau's incredible trove of modern art featuring works by major artists from Picasso to Warhol, Rothko to O'Keeffe. The sale met the ambitious expectations of the auction house, achieving a total of $406.4 million with 100% of lots sold. That sum also means it is the most valuable auction amassed by a female collector.
Related: Sotheby's To Auction Emily Fisher Landau's $400 Million Art Collection
The absolute star of the show was the $139.4 million sale of Pablo Picasso's Femme à la montre from 1932, a particularly prolific year for Picasso when he produced some of his most acclaimed works inspired by his muse and mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter. The portrait, a whimsical geometric composition in punchy primary colors, is Picasso at his best, as echoed in its impressive sale price which secured it as the most expensive painting sold this year, as well as Picasso's second most expensive painting ever auctioned. Women of Algiers, sold at Christie's for $179.4 million in 2015, is still Picasso's priciest work.
Related: Picasso: The Universal Artist
The next top sales were by American pop masters, Jasper Johns and Ed Ruscha. One of Johns' iconic Flags from 1986 sold for $41 million, becoming his most expensive American flag ever sold, and Ed Ruscha's Securing the Last Letter (Boss) fetched $39 million.
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Another major highlight of the night was a new auction record for abstract minimalist Agnes Martin (1912-2004). Her Grey Stone II (1961), composed from oil, gold leaf and pencil on canvas, achieved $18.7 million over an estimate of $6-8 million. Discerning collectors competed for this rare work, one of just five in which the artist used gold leaf in her famous grids. The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art each hold one of the five and the other two are much smaller than this 72-inch version. American artist Mark Tansey (b. 1949) also received a new record for Triumph Over Mastery II (1987) with its price tag of $11.8 million,
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"Emily Fisher Landau’s prescient and unerring eye allowed us to shine a spotlight tonight onto the great artists who now form the bedrock of 20th century art history," said Brooke Lampley, Sotheby’s Global Chairman, Head of Global Fine Art. "As every single lot found a new home, we saw the enduring appeal of these masters affirmed once again - with the Picasso taking its rightful place as the star lot of the year and American painters reaching new heights."
