The Weis Collection Smashes Expectations at Christie’s New York, Reaching $218 Million

The highly anticipated Christie's auction in New York, held on November 17, 2025, commenced the house's key sales week with an extraordinary financial performance. The dispersal of the esteemed Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis Collection concluded the evening with a remarkable total revenue of $218 million USD. This result was a significant triumph, utterly eclipsing the conservative pre-sale estimates. The collection, which consisted of just 18 lots, had been valued with a high estimate of $136.7 million and a low estimate of $92.35 million. The market's enthusiasm was palpable, reflected in the stellar 98% sell-through rate achieved when calculated by value, signaling a powerful start to the auction season and confirming strong investor appetite for blue-chip art.

The Weises had meticulously assembled this collection over the course of seven decades, making it one of the most closely watched events of the year. Robert F. Weis held a prominent position in American business as the long-time chairman of Weis Markets, Inc., a company originally founded by his grandfather in 1912. The centerpiece of the entire evening was undoubtedly Mark Rothko’s monumental 1958 painting, "No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)." This canvas is recognized as a definitive example from the apex of the artist's pioneering Color Field movement. Having resided for years within the couple's private residence in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, the work commanded a final price of $62.16 million, comfortably surpassing its initial $50 million pre-sale valuation. Furthermore, the sale established a new institutional milestone for Christie's by recording the highest bid ever placed online during a live, in-person auction.

Beyond the Rothko, the sale featured a constellation of other seminal modernist works, underscoring the breadth and quality of the Weises' connoisseurship. Pablo Picasso’s intimate 1932 portrait, "La Lecture" (The Reading), which captures his young mistress and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter, was fiercely contested, ultimately realizing a substantial $45.49 million. Another highlight was Claude Monet’s evocative "Nymphéas" (Water Lilies), painted in 1907. The Weises had acquired this impressionist masterpiece in 1995, and it also achieved a final hammer price of $45.49 million. Interestingly, while this figure was robust, it did not quite meet the auction house’s ambitious internal target, which had reached as high as $60 million. Nevertheless, the strong performance across all categories, witnessed live from the auction room at Rockefeller Center, provided clear evidence of renewed optimism and financial vigor in the global art market.

The decision to sell the collection, encompassing more than 80 pieces ranging stylistically from Cubism to Abstract Expressionism, was made by the couple's three surviving children following the deaths of Robert in 2015 and Patricia in 2024. To ensure the collection's successful dispersal, Christie's had extended significant financial backing, guaranteeing the sale with approximately $200 million. When the results of the Weis collection were combined with the subsequent 20th Century contemporary art auction held that same evening, the total sales volume for the night soared to $689.795 million. This extraordinary cumulative figure powerfully reinforces the sustained and unwavering demand for blue-chip, historically significant masterpieces among serious international collectors.