Broadcasting the First Billion Dollar Art Sale: The Paul G. Allen Collection at Christie's

"What a night, what an exciting night..." Guillaume Cerutti, Christie's CEO, told a reporter as he left Christie's iconic Rockefeller Centre salesroom after part one of 'Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection' had achieved $1.5 billion in a single evening - a record for the industry. Indeed, it was exciting, and the sales would continue the following day, bringing the total for the collection to an eye-popping $1.62 billion with all the estate's proceeds dedicated to philanthropy as Mr. Allen had wished. 

The end result was two incredibly auctions broadcast live to four million global viewers across six hours of live auction with 27 records broken and all lots sold. A broadcast like that takes ample preparation and a unique global team. Christie's auction house - a leading force in the art market - emerged from the pandemic having overhauled its marquee live auctions into the most innovative hybrid of live and online events in the art world.