Christie's 21st-Century Evening Sale Sets Auction Records for Three Women Artists

"Báez's monumental 2021 painting Untitled (Colonization in America, Visual History Wall Map, Prepared by Civic Education Service) sold for $1,111,250, setting a new record for the Dominican-born artist whose work interrogates colonial histories through layers of archival maps, Caribbean symbolism, and swirly swaths of paint-in this case, densely rendered feathers. Brown's After the Alcatraz Swim #2 achieved $596,900, a benchmark for the Bay Area Figurative artist whose psychologically charged self-portrait draws from a near-fatal 1975 swim in San Francisco Bay."

"The highest price of these three came for Amaral's gold-laced fiber work Pueblo H (2011), which soared to $3,125,000-more than double her previous auction record. Offered from Elaine Wynn's collection, the result reflects the Colombian artist's surging international visibility, including her participation in the 2024 Venice Biennale and her retrospective, which debuted at the Fondation Cartier in Paris in 2024 before traveling to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami earlier this year."

"Christie's also set two other records for sculpture during the sale: a new high for a neon/sculptural work by Glenn Ligon, which realized $3,125,000, as well as a record for a three-dimensional work by Richard Prince, whose Untitled (Cowboy) sculpture, from 2011, brought in $3.4 million. Together, the results marked a significant night within an already strong season for artists historically underrepresented at the top end of the auction market."

Christie's 21st-century evening sale produced new auction records for Firelei Báez, Joan Brown, and Olga de Amaral, highlighting strong demand for historically under-recognized women artists. Báez's 2021 painting Untitled (Colonization in America, Visual History Wall Map, Prepared by Civic Education Service) sold for $1,111,250, combining archival maps, Caribbean symbolism, and densely rendered feathers. Brown's After the Alcatraz Swim #2 reached $596,900, reflecting the Bay Area Figurative artist's psychologically charged self-portrait tied to a near-fatal 1975 swim. Amaral's gold-laced fiber Pueblo H (2011) achieved $3,125,000, more than doubling her prior auction record amid growing international visibility. The sale also set sculpture records for Glenn Ligon and Richard Prince, marking a significant night in the market for underrepresented artists.

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