Contemporary Art

Defining artists of today

March 2021 | New York

This March, Christie’s New York hosted a series of six live and online auctions dedicated to the definers of contemporary art. The Post-War to Present live sale opened the week with stellar examples by Matthew Wong, Emily Mae Smith, Derrick Adams, Kenneth Noland, Elaine de Kooning and Ruth Asawa while the Contemporary Edition live sale featured nearly 200 striking prints and multiples from leading names such as Frank Stella, Jasper Johns and Alex Katz and important contemporary artists such as KAWS and Damien Hirst. The four online sales closed the series with First Open | Online that included jewellery by Alexander Calder alongside cutting-edge contemporary art from Tomoo Gokita and Nicole Eisenman; Contemporary Art Asia presented a prominent private American collection as well as works by Tsuyoshi Maekawa, Chiyu Uemae, Vu Cao Dam, Aya Takano, Hajime Sorayama, Javier Calleja, Josh Smith and more; and ABOUDIA | Noutchy in New York City showcased a specific sale dedicated to the Brooklyn-based artist whose large-scale, mixed-media paintings and drawings echo those of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The highlight of the week was BEEPLE ǀ THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, a standalone online sale of the single lot EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS that historically marked the first-ever purely digital artwork (NFT) to be sold at a traditional auction house. Beeple forever changed the landscape of art as we know it with his visionary piece marking a record sale of $69.3 million and setting the third highest price for a living artist at auction.


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A guide to bidding online or by telephone with Christie’s

All of Christie’s auctions are fully accessible for online browsing and bidding, meaning you can easily place a bid from the comfort of your home through Christie’s LIVE™, or alternatively by telephone. In 2019, over half of all bids placed were online, and for live auctions, telephone bids made up 41 per cent of winning bids versus 18 per cent within the saleroom — so you’re in good company.

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Sustainability at Christie’s

Christie’s commitment to sustainability

For 250 years, Christie’s has helped steward some of humanity’s greatest artistic treasures across generations and cultures. As a leader in our market, we want to build a sustainable art business so that we can play another stewarding role: helping to protect the environment so that great natural beauty can be enjoyed by and inspire future generations.

In March 2021, we announced a global sustainability initiative, guided by three key pillars: commit, communicate and collaborate.

Find out more
  • Elaine de Kooning
  • © Elaine de Kooning Trust
  • Sam Gilliam
  • © 2021 Sam Gilliam / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • ABOUDIA
  • © ABOUDIA
  • Emily Mae Smith
  • © Courtesy Emily Mae Smith and Petzel, New York
  • KAWS (b. 1974)
  • © KAWS
  • David Hockney
  • © Hockney