# Christie’s sells $1.1b in art in one night — with a little help from Nicole Kidman

- Link: https://www.tehranianonline.com/christies-sells-1-1b-in-art-in-one-night-with-a-little-help-from-nicole-kidman/
- Published: 2026-05-23T22:04:09+03:30
- Author: Leyla AbeshAhmadLou

New York — On Monday evening, it took auction house Christie’s just40 minutes to
sell more than $630 million in art, smashing records for both the painter Jackson
Pollock and sculptor Constantin Brancusi. Later in the night, it rounded things 
off with yet more broken records and another $490 million.

The first part of the $1.1-billion New Yorksale featured 16 worksfromS.I. Newhouse’s
storiedcollection. It marked the fourth time Christie’s has brought a group of works
to market from the late media giant, who owned Condé Nast, as well as large slice
of America’s local newspapers and broadcast stations.

But it was the first time that the auction house tapped Nicole Kidman for a [promotional video](https://www.christies.com/en/stories/nicole-kidman-constantin-brancusi-danaide-1cd4050788274d24b590e279a4078109),
filming her free-flowing encounter with the golden Brancusi bust “Danaïde,” which
was poised to be one of the night’s star lots. The video was based on a 1930s Man
Ray film of fellow surrealist Lee Miller, per Christie’s, and while it didn’t quite
take off in the same way as Kidman’s [viral AMC ad](https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/15/entertainment/video/nicole-kidman-amc-movie-theater-ads-vrtc),
it did once again prove her commitment to any and all roles.

Netting$107.6 million with fees, “Danaïde” surpassed Brancusi’s previous auction
record of $71.2 million almost as soon as bidding began. A pivotal drip painting
by Pollock — of which few of its scale remain in private hands — also soared skyward,
to applause, landing at $181.2 million with fees to become the night’s top-grossing
lot. The price tag far surpassed the abstract expressionist’s previous 2021 record
of $61.2 million — and he did it without the help of Kidman.

![](https://www.tehranianonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2588-1-1024x297.webp)

Jackson Pollock’s record climbed sky high with the sale of “Number 7A, 1948.” Courtesy
Christie’s

Hours before the sale, Sara Friedlander, a chair of post-war and contemporary art
at Christie’s, said that the celebrity campaign was just one of many approaches 
used to promote the sales. Brancusi was “such a modern innovator,” she said, “and
so I think for us to do things that are innovative around extraordinary objects 
is something we, too, are experimenting with.”

Works by Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Jasper Johns, Andy
Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg also contributed to the allure of the Newhouse sale.
As a single-owner collection, only that ofthe late Paul G. Allen has generated more
at auction — in 2022,the two-part blow-out sale of works amassed by the Microsoft
co-founder fetched a record-breaking $1.5 billion on the first night alone. Newhouse’s
works have, instead, sold in occasional tranches, including the $91 million sale
of “Rabbit” that made Jeff Koons the world’s most expensive living artist (by public
auction records**, **at least) in 2019.

Newhouse’s collection came to auction, in part, thanks to Tobias Meyer, an art advisor
and former auctioneer who has represented the media titan’s family**.** Meyer was
the instrumental voice behind steering this collection,” Friedlander said.

![](https://www.tehranianonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2588-2-767x1024.webp)

“Danaïde” is based on a Greek myth of the daughters of Danaus condemned to carry
water in a sieve for eternity. Brancusi’s modernist take was a star lot of the night.
Courtesy Christie’s

But it also came down to apartment space, too, according to The New York Times, 
which [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/24/arts/design/newhouse-art-collection-christies-sale.html)
that Newhouse’s widow, Victoria, was scaling down. “I’m not getting any younger 
and I feel the time has come to start downsizing,” she told the paper. **“**It’s
an effort to simplify my life.”

The top end of the art market, led by Christie’s and Sotheby’s, has been hellbent
on a rebound over the past year, after a series of rocky sales and global economic
uncertainty cast doubt on demand for blockbuster works. Both auction houses have
courted powerhouse single-owner collections, including those of Allen, [Leonard A. Lauder](https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/18/style/sothebys-klimt-cattelan-sales)
and [Pauline Karpidas](https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/04/style/pauline-karpidas-sothebys-sale-surrealism),
to inject the market with rare paintings from 20th-century artists that are getting
harder to come by. Monday’s sales at Christie’s also included three masterworks 
from the collection of former Museum of Modern Art president [Agnes Gund](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/12/style/agnes-gund-sale-christies),
which set a new $98.4 million recordfor Mark Rothko, while Sotheby’s offered up 
treasures worth $166.3 million from the late art dealer Robert Mnuchin last week.

![](https://www.tehranianonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2588-3-787x1024.webp)

Rothko’s “No. 15 (Two Greens and Red Stripe)” set a new record for the artist in
Christie’s wider 20th-century evening sale. The painting was one of three works 
included from Agnes Gund’s collection. Christie’s Images Ltd. 2026

The strategy appears to have whetted the appetites of billionaire buyers, but recent
wins may not signal the market’s long-term recovery. According to [Artnet](https://news.artnet.com/market/intelligence-report-art-market-private-auction-playbook-2757275),
there are no more than 30 **“**whales**”** — the market’s biggest spenders — with
the power to make a major auctionsink or swim. And, like the $236.4-million Gustav
Klimt record last fall, a decisive star lot can buoy the rest, hiding any still 
lingering or lurking uncertainties.

Still, Monday’s evening sales, which also included 48 20th-century works from outside
Newhouse’s collection, certainly flexed collectors’ strength. A record-breaking 
20,000 visitors came to see the works at Christie’s before they went back into private
hands. Kidman may have been talking about AMC when she said, “[We come to this place for magic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiEeIxZJ9x0),”
but the art market still has some rabbits to pull, too.