Christie’s just pulled off a monster art sale, and Nicole Kidman had a small but very glamorous role in the buildup.
The auction house sold $1.1 billion in art during a New York evening sale on Monday. The night moved fast. In the first 40 minutes alone, Christie’s sold more than $630 million worth of work from the late media giant S.I. Newhouse’s collection.
By the end of the night, the total climbed even higher, with major records falling for Jackson Pollock, Constantin Brancusi, and Mark Rothko. And yes, Kidman helped set the mood.
Nicole Kidman Helps Promote Brancusi’s Big Moment
Before the sale, Christie’s tapped Kidman for a promotional video built around Brancusi’s golden bust ‘Danaïde’. The clip showed the actress having a dreamy, free-flowing encounter with the sculpture.
Christie’s said the video was inspired by a 1930s Man Ray film featuring Lee Miller. It did not reach the same pop-culture level as Kidman’s famous AMC ad, but it gave the auction a dose of celebrity glamour.
The strategy worked well enough for Brancusi. ‘Danaïde’ sold for $107.6 million with fees, beating the sculptor’s previous auction record of $71.2 million almost as soon as bidding began.
Sara Friedlander, Christie’s chair of post-war and contemporary art, said the Kidman campaign was one of many approaches used to promote the sale. She called Brancusi “such a modern innovator” and said Christie’s wanted to experiment around “extraordinary objects.”
Pollock Breaks Record Without Kidman’s Help
The biggest sale of the night came from Jackson Pollock.
A major drip painting by the artist sold for $181.2 million with fees, becoming the top-grossing lot of the evening. The sale easily surpassed Pollock’s previous auction record of $61.2 million from 2021.
The Newhouse collection also included major works by Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Robert Rauschenberg.
Newhouse, who owned Condé Nast and a large media empire, had one of the great private collections in America. Christie’s has sold parts of it before, including Jeff Koons’ ‘Rabbit’, which went for $91 million in 2019.
Christie’s Sends Message To The Art Market
The sale comes as major auction houses try to prove the high-end art market still has real muscle.
Recent economic uncertainty had raised doubts about whether billionaire collectors were still ready to spend big. Monday’s sale gave Christie’s a strong answer. The auction house said a record-breaking 20,000 visitors came to view the works before they returned to private hands.
The night also included three works from former Museum of Modern Art president Agnes Gund’s collection, including a Rothko that set a new $98.4 million record.
Kidman once told moviegoers, “We come to this place for magic.” This time, she brought a little of that magic to Brancusi, and Christie’s walked away with a billion-dollar night.
