20th Century Evening Sale

Sale Overview

Celebrating the most significant movements of the modern and post-war eras, this May’s 20th Century Evening Sale showcases the vanguard artists who defined the period.

This season, we are honoured to present Art from the Bass House, the next chapter in the collecting story of Anne and Sid Bass. Hailing from the historic Paul Rudolph-designed home in Fort Worth, the Bass House is an ambitious feat of midcentury American modernism, with its interlocking spaces, dynamic vistas, and expansive walls, elevated by the monumental art held within – masterpieces by Frank Stella, Ellsworth Kelly, Alexander Calder, and more. Leading the collection is Mark Rothko’s No. 4 (Two Dominants) [Orange Plum Black] from 1950-51, showcasing the artist at his finest.

The auction is led by Claude Monet’s Peupliers au bord de l’Epte, crépuscule, one of the most exquisite examples from the artist’s highly coveted Les Peupliers series, painted during Monet’s breakthrough decade of the 1890s. Featuring a vivid palette of sunset hues in a striking vertical orientation measuring over three feet tall, this is among the most dynamic and richly worked paintings of the iconic Peupliers subject. The work has exceptional provenance, having first been in the collection of the legendary dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and his family for over 50 years, and it now comes to auction from a private collection where it was held for over 60 years.

Another leading highlight of the sale is Andy Warhol’s Big Electric Chair from the Matthys-Colle Collection. Singular within Warhol’s oeuvre, Big Electric Chair is the ultimate still life, a solitary object in a quiet moment. It debuted in Warhol’s first major European retrospective at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet in 1968 and was acquired the following year by pioneering Belgian collectors Roger Matthys and Hilda Colle, where it was the crown jewel of their prestigious collection for over half a century.

The auction spotlights titans of American post-war painting, bolstered by Helen Frankenthaler’s Basin and Robert Motherwell’s Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 160, both executed in 1979, as well as masterworks from Latin America, including female Surrealist Remedios Varo’s Revelación (also titled El relojero) from 1955 and the legendary Diego Rivera’s celebration of Mexican culture, La ofrenda de Janitzio, painted in 1947.

Explore the 20th/21st Century Art auction series in New York.

Auction times

12 May 07:30 PM (EDT) Lots 40A-76A

Our specialist’s selection

Brought to you by

Rachael White Young

Senior Vice President, Senior Specialist, Co-Head of 20th Century Evening Sale | Post-War & Contemporary Art

Rachael White Young is a Senior Vice-President, Senior Specialist and Head of Core Market Sales for the Post-War & Contemporary Art department in New York. She is responsible for the management, strategy and growth of all Core Market auctions for the department in New York, including the Day, Post-War to Present and First Open Online Sales, collectively amounting to more than $200 million in annual sale totals.

She has eleven years of experience at Christie’s. She previously served as Head of the Post-War & Contemporary Art Day Sales (2018-2023) and Head of the Post-War & Contemporary Midseason and Online auctions (2017-2018). During her tenure at Christie’s, she has overseen numerous records, including the highest figure ever achieved for a Day Sale—$110 million in November 2019—and an industry-record high for a work offered in a Day Sale: $8.5 million for a painting by Mark Rothko, achieved in November 2021. In addition to her function as Head of Core Market Sales, she provides top-to-bottom services for her client-base throughout the year, including global auction consignments and sales; private sales; and comprehensive appraisal services. Her specialization is post-war abstraction, including Abstract Expressionism, Color Field and Pop Art, but her passion spans the entirety of 20/21st century art.

Rachael earned a Masters of Fine Arts from the Sotheby’s Institute in London in 2012. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and European Studies from Vanderbilt University, with a Minor in History of Art, graduating in 2009. In between degrees, she began her professional journey at Sotheby’s Madrid.

In her free time, she donates her auctioneering services at fundraisers, galas and events for various charitable organizations across the globe.

Imogen Kerr

Vice President, Senior Specialist, Co-Head of 20th Century Evening Sale | Impressionist & Modern Art

Imogen Kerr is a Vice President and Senior Specialist at Christie’s New York, serving as Co-Head of the 20th Century Evening Sale, where she is responsible for valuing and marketing Impressionist and Modern works of art for the 20th / 21st Century Art Department’s masterpiece auction venue. Imogen has held positions across New York, Hong Kong and London, and enjoys providing the highest level of service to clients across continents to achieve their art collecting goals. She has collaborated with international sales teams to produce single-owner, various-owner and curated auctions as well as private selling exhibitions for 20th / 21st Century Art across London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris and New York sites. As Vice President, Head of Impressionist & Modern Art, Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong from 2021 to 2022, Imogen significantly increased representation of Impressionist and Modern Art in Christie’s in Hong Kong auctions, serving with the 20th / 21st Century Art Department during seasons accounting for the highest sales figures ever produced by Christie’s in the region. Subsequently, Imogen served as Director, Senior Specialist in London, working across Day, Evening and Private Sales from 2022 to 2023 whilst continuing to collaborate internationally.

Imogen joined the Impressionist and Modern Art Department at Christie’s London in 2011, having previously worked in roles across primary and secondary markets in modern and contemporary art. Imogen holds a BA in English Literature and Art History and a BFA degree in Fine Art, which she earned simultaneously from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.