Billionaire collector William “Bill” Koch is ready to sell more of his art. After parting ways with $84 million worth of American art at Christie’s in January, he’s putting another group of paintings up for sale this November, including works by Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne that could fetch as much as $18 million apiece.
Christie’s said the collection, which also includes works by Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, and Diego Rivera, is expected to bring more than $40 million during its marquee sales in New York next month.
The announcement marks the latest chapter in what has become a very lucrative relationship between Koch and the auction house. In June 2025, Christie’s sold $28.8 million worth of wine from his cellar, followed by his Western American art auction seven months later. Both sales exceeded expectations, according to Christie’s.
And it isn’t just art and wine that Koch has been selling. He’s also been trying to find a buyer for Elk Mountain Lodge, his sprawling 52-acre estate in Aspen, Colorado. The property went on the market in January 2025 for $125 million, but after failing to attract a buyer, Koch slashed the asking price to $99 million and put it up for auction in July. The estate, which he bought for $26.5 million in 2007, includes a 16,631-square-foot main house, seven guest cabins, and enough amenities to make leaving the property seem almost unnecessary.
It’s unclear what’s behind Koch’s motivation to sell. In under two years, the 85-year-old has parted with more than $112 million in art and wine, with another $40 million or more potentially coming next month. While it certainly looks like the billionaire is doing some serious housecleaning, Christie’s hasn’t offered an explanation, and Koch hasn’t publicly connected the sales to any broader plans, though in the release Koch says that he hopes “art lovers around the world can take the same enjoyment as I have, in collecting these works my hope is that collectors will find something that speaks to their passion and that they are able to share it with their friends and loved ones.”
For the upcoming sale, Koch is turning his attention to European and Latin American art. Leading the group is Monet’s Champ d’avoine et coquelicots (1890), a landscape depicting a field of oats and poppies near the artist’s home in Giverny, France. Koch bought the painting in 1985, and the work carries an estimate of $12 million to $18 million.
Sharing top billing is Cézanne’s Tasse, verre et fruits, a still life painted around 1877 that features apples, a cup, and a glass arranged on a tabletop. Koch acquired the painting in 1986, and Christie’s has given it the same $12 million to $18 million estimate. Both paintings will appear in the house’s 20th Century Evening Sale.
Another highlight is Matisse’s Jeune femme fardée à l’orientale (La bayadère), a 1929 painting of a nude inspired by the classical ballet La Bayadère. It’s expected to bring between $5 million and $7 million.
A Degas work, Scène de ballet, is estimated at $3 million to $5 million. The pastel over monotype has a particularly interesting history: it was originally purchased directly from Degas by Philadelphia collector Annie Riddle Scott on the advice of Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. (Another impression of the underlying monotype belongs to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.)
Koch’s collection also includes Rivera’s Vendedora de flores en Xochimilco (1929) and Miró’s Peinture (1950), each estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million. A 1971 Chagall painting, Danseuse à la robe fleurie, carries a $1.2 million to $1.8 million estimate, while Gabriele Münter’s Kind mit Puppe (1909) is expected to bring between $900,000 and $1.2 million.
Koch, an industrialist, America’s Cup winner, and longtime collector, has spent decades assembling collections that range from fine art to rare wines. “I feel very fortunate that with hard work, business success, and a great deal of luck, I have been able to collect things that resonate with me,” Koch said in a statement. “The masterpieces in this sale are among my favorites.”
The works will be spread across Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale, Impressionist and Modern Art Day Sale, and Works on Paper Sale during the house’s November marquee week in New York.