PARIS.- Christie's announces its Marquee Week 20/21, which will take place in Paris from 14 to 17 April, following the London Marquee Week 20/21 held from 5 to 7 March with a rich series of international sales. The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale is one of its highlights, featuring in particular a masterpiece by René Magritte, Les grâces naturelles (£6,500,000–9,500,000).
In Paris, with six sales (including one online), five collections and more than 400 works, Christie's once again underscores the importance of this spring event, now firmly established as one of the highlights of the Paris art calendar, alongside the Paris Art Week in October. Thus, Christie's strengthens the momentum initiated a few years ago, which saw this week dedicated to 20th and 21th century art achieve more than €58M in Paris in April 2025. Offering fascinating journeys through the century, Christie's Marquee Week 20/21 has become, in spring, from London to Paris, one of the key moments of the global market. With two works by Berthe Morisot (€600,000-800,000 and €700,000–1,000,000) and Jean-Paul Riopelle (€1,000,000–1,500,000) from major French collections kept out of sight for decades, masterful works on paper by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (€400,000–600,000) and Marc Chagall (€500,000–700,000), as well as emblematic abstractions by Paul Klee (€400,000–600,000) and Gerhard Richter (€1,700,000-2,500,000), and also an important Pierre Soulages from 1954 from a private American collection (€1,000,000–1,500,000) and a magnificent, previously unseen painting by Serge Poliakoff from 1967 (€400,000–600,000), Paris will fully rise to the occasion. A selection of key works in the history of drawing, including a masterpiece by Piet Mondrian (€3,000,000–5,000,000), along with two collections celebrating works on paper by two major figures of the 20th century, round out this particularly enticing programme. They also reaffirm Paris's position in the drawing market.
Summary of the week through a few key works
From Impressionism to the most contemporary creation, by way of Modernism and the School of Paris, the Paris Marquee Week 20/21 offers a sweeping panorama of more than a century of art history. Here is a summary through several key works, which will undoubtedly stand among the highlights of the week.
Two Masterpieces by Berthe Morisot:
Co-founder of the Impressionist movement, Berthe Morisot developed one of the most innovative pictorial languages of her time. In the broader movement to acknowledge the place of women in art history, she stands as a true icon whose works are particularly sought after on the market. Two works offered in the prestigious evening sale embody her pioneering choices. Jeune fille accoudée (€700,000–1,000,000) and Jeune fille cueillant des oranges (€600,000–800,000) perfectly illustrate the artist's taste for intimate subjects—long dismissed—and her groundbreaking affinity for nature and plein-air painting. Major pieces from a French private collection, kept out of sight for several decades, these two canvases are among those that invariably spark a special emotion when they reappear on the market. 20/21 Century Art Evening Sale, 15 April at 5:30pm.
A Watercolor: Paul Klee's Synthesis of Abstraction:
A major artist of the first half of the 20th century, a poet of abstraction fascinated by the light of distant lands and the magic of nature, Paul Klee was as remarkable a painter as he was a master of watercolor. Nördlich-Winterlich, a watercolor on paper offered on 15 April as part of Radical Genius, Works on Paper from a Distinguished Private Collection, is a perfect illustration of this. Dated 1923, the work belongs to one of the artist's most productive periods, during which—while teaching at the Bauhaus—he developed his color theories and laid the foundations of modern and abstract art through seminal texts. Exhibited in 1925 in Munich by Hans Goltz, a pioneering dealer of modernity, the work entered the artist's estate after his death and is included in the catalogue raisonné published by the Paul Klee Foundation (€400,000–600,000). Radical Genius, Works on Paper from a Distinguished Private Collection, 15 April at 4:00pm.
A Work from the Defining Period of Jean-Paul Riopelle:
Abandoning the brush for the palette knife around 1949–1950, Jean-Paul Riopelle entered the phase that would produce his most emblematic works and propel him to success in Paris. Exhibited by Pierre Loeb and later at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, he took part in the 1954 Venice Biennale. He travelled to the United States and met Joan Mitchell. On 15 April, the evening sale will offer an Untitled canvas dated 1950 from a major Parisian private collection. This historic and unique work is emblematic of his work on the surface with numerous paint drippings, placing the artist among the pioneers of French lyrical abstraction, a counterpoint to American abstract expressionism (€1,000,000–1,500,000). 20/21 Century Art Evening Sale, 15 April at 5:30pm.
An Emblematic Abstraction by Gerhard Richter:
For Nicholas Serota, co-curator of the largest retrospective ever organized on the artist, currently closing at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Gerhard Richter “has proved that painting can still be a contemporary language.” Remarkably complex, Gerhardt Richter's work is entirely devoted to painting; he never stops reinventing it through constant experimentation. Breaking with the long-standing opposition between abstraction and figuration, the German master navigates between the two without hierarchy. Similarly, Richter explores all registers of abstraction—geometric, gestural, chromatic. Painted in 1992, Abstraktes Bild, the canvas offered in the sale on 15 April, perfectly embodies this richness and diversity (€1,700,000–2,500,000). 20/21 Century Art Evening Sale, 15 April at 5:30pm.
The Marquee Week 20/21 by Christie's
This major moment in the global art market continues in April in Paris, which every year hosts a programme of events eagerly awaited by collectors, including PAD Paris and Art Paris.
In 2025, Christie's Paris sales achieved a new spring record, enabling the house to consolidate its leadership on the market with a combined total of €265M between Paris and London. In 2026, no fewer than 6 sales and over 400 works will be offered in Paris from 14 to 17 April. Among the new features and highlights of the week:
• Radical Genius, Works on Paper from a Distinguished Private Collection, an extraordinary drawing collection : several dozen key works in the history of drawing, from Lorenzo Lippi to Piet Mondrian, including a work estimated at €3,000,000–5,000,000. The group will shed light on pivotal moments in the history of drawing and the radical innovations they represent for the history of art as a whole. 15 April at 4:00pm
• Two collections devoted to major 20th‑century figures : each comprising around sixty works, with a strong emphasis on works on paper. They will take international collectors through the landscapes of the Alpes-Maritimes, home to museums dedicated to these two artists who—each in their own way, rightfully deserve the title of “sacred monsters.” 14 April in Paris and online from 8 to 17 April.
• A major French private collection: kept away from public view for decades, this ensemble will reveal, in addition to portraits by Berthe Morisot, a multitude of scenes that, through the brushes of Maurice de Vlaminck, Charles Camoin, and Othon Friesz, illuminate the French coastlines. To be discovered throughout the week's sales. 15 and 17 April.
• An exceptional journey through the School of Paris : passionately and eclectically assembled, this collection will be dispersed throughout the evening and day sales of Marquee Week 20/21. It will be one of its highlights, featuring prestigious names such as Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Jean-Michel Atlan, Serge Poliakoff, Karel Appel, and Jean Paul Riopelle. 15, 16 and 17 April.
• Primavera : Following its success in 2025, Thinking Italian, the section dedicated to Italian creativity—returns for a second edition. Traditionally held in the autumn, the event now establishes itself firmly in the spring as well. Works by Lucio Fontana, Mario Schifano, Ettore Spalletti, and Alighiero Boetti will feature across the week's sales, appealing to a wide variety of collectors and price ranges. 15, 16 and 17 April.
• 20/21 Century Art Evening Sale, the highlight of the week : as every year, the major evening sale will present a tightly curated selection of several dozen important works. Edgar Degas, Gerhard Richter, Pierre Soulages, Anish Kapoor, Germaine Richier, and Joan Miró will headline the 2026 edition—alongside François-Xavier Lalanne. 15 April at 5:30pm.
• Two day sales for one of the market's most dynamic segments: each bringing together more than one hundred lots, the two sales will be devoted respectively to Impressionist & Modern Art and to Post-War & Contemporary Art. The lineup will include works by Alfred Sisley, Rembrandt Bugatti, Albert Marquet, Joan Miró, Félix Vallotton, Wols, Keith Haring, and Jean Dubuffet, among many others. Often more accessible, this segment of the market is frequently the source of remarkable discoveries and spectacular surprises—as was recently the case with a work by Édouard Manet. 16 and 17 April at 1:00pm.
• 1 Picasso for 100 Euros: A large-scale fundraising campaign benefiting the Alzheimer's Research Foundation, 1 Picasso for 100 Euros will reach its conclusion at Christie's Paris, which will host the grand final draw for the 120,000 tickets issued. 14 April at 6:00pm.
