Lichtenstein Nude Leads Christie’s $421 Million Live-Stream Auction
- Auction house introduced a relay-style, live-streamed format
- It drew more than 20,000 viewers, set seven auction records
A nude by Roy Lichtenstein led Christie’s relay-style auction that played out virtually Friday in four cities around the globe.
The live-streamed event -- which had been postponed from May due to the pandemic -- produced $421 million in sales over four hours, exceeding its low estimate. Like Sotheby’s and Phillips before it, Christie’s pivoted from a live to virtual auction, connecting sales rooms in Hong Kong, Paris, London and New York digitally and drawing more than 20,000 viewers.