21st Century Evening Sale

Sale Overview

New York’s 21st Century Evening Sale is the most enthralling event on Christie’s global auction calendar. Reflecting seismic shifts to the artistic landscape in the late-20th and early-21st centuries, this sale presents masterworks from the past 50 years. Celebrated blue-chip artists mingle with emerging creators of today. No other auction more vividly captures the art of our generation: where we are, how we got here and where we’re going next. This season, the evening will launch with For Art’s Sake: Selected Works by Tiqui Atencio & Ago Demirdjian, a fantastic selection from one of the most respected collectors and authors in the contemporary art world, featuring standout works from Ed Ruscha, Cecily Brown and Julie Mehretu. For Art’s Sake will continue with further sales of art and design throughout 2025 at Christie’s.

Among the standout works this season are a 1982 masterpiece Jean-Michel Basquiat triple-portrait, Baby Boom, the most significant Simone Leigh sculpture to ever come to auction, Sentinel IV, and Lisa Brice’s most celebrated composition Midday Drinking Den, after Embah I and II. These iconic artworks will be juxtaposed with the innovative contributions of contemporary trailblazers such as Louis Fratino, Arthur Jafa, and Sarah Sze.

Auction times

14 May 07:00 PM (EDT) Lots 1B-43B

Our specialist’s selection

Brought to you by

Isabella Lauria

Senior Vice President, Senior Specialist, Head of 21st Century Evening Sale | Post-War & Contemporary Art

Isabella Lauria is a Senior Vice-President and Specialist within the Post-War and Contemporary Art department at Christie’s and Head of the 21st Century Evening Sale in New York. In this role she is focused on introducing new and established collectors to well-known, as well as emerging and underrecognized artists of the Contemporary period. Isabella has worked in the auction world for 8 years and previously ran the mid-season sales at Christie’s. Born in Caracas and raised in Miami, London, Washington, D.C., and New York, Isabella speaks Spanish, English and French. She received her Master’s in Art Business with a focus on Contemporary Art from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York.