Sotheby’s to Auction $600 Million Macklowe Collection
Sotheby’s has just released a preview for one of their most-anticipated auctions. The internationally-renowned art broker is set to auction
Ivy Griffith
Sotheby’s has just released a preview for one of their most-anticipated auctions. The internationally-renowned art broker is set to auction off the M. Macklowe collection, owned by Harry Macklowe and ex-wife Linda. The collection is worth around $600M and contains some incredibly well-known and highly-sought pieces. The auction marks a significant sale for the art world.
Macklowe Collection Brings Some Big Pieces
With Sotheby’s upcoming auction of the Macklowe Collection, art collectors everywhere are on the edge of their seats with excitement about getting their hands on some of these pieces. ArtNews writes, “The postwar and contemporary art collection of New York real estate mogul Harry Macklowe and his ex-wife Linda, which the couple amassed over the course of their decades-long marriage, will soon head to auction. ‘It’s one of the most significant collections of modern and contemporary art in the world,’ said Charles Stewart, Sotheby’s chief executive officer. ‘The sale will make history as one of the landmark events defining the art market.’”
The auction comes as the conclusion of the Macklowes’ contentious divorce trial, which concluded in 2018. At that time, a NY judge ordered the estranged pair to sell 65 works from their collection and split the proceeds. This judgement kicked off a polite war between Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips for the rights to auction.
Pieces in the collection include:
- Cy Twombly‘s Untitled 2007 piece. Estimated to be worth around $40 million, this large scale contemporary painting boasts Twombly’s signature red flower abstracts, an ode to the work of 17th century Japanese poets.
- Alberto Giacometti’s Le Nez. This 1949 piece was cast around 1964 and is a sculpture with an open-sided steel cage and a bronze figure suspended within. It’s worth an estimated $70M.
- Gerhard Richter‘s 1975 Seestück. Worth around $30M, this large-scale seascape is evocative and moody.
- Andy Warhol’s Nine Marilyns. This 1962 iconic, black-and-white silkscreen painting is an original print of his famous piece, worth around $50M.
- Pablo Picasso‘s Figure. This multi-year piece by Picasso was originally cast in 1928 and added to by the artist in 1968. It’s an energetic metal sculpture originally commissioned for French poet Guillaume Apollinaire.
- Plus more famous pieces.
It’s truly a private collection worth taking note of, and a nearly unprecedented opportunity for art collectors.
Black Jewelry Designers at Sotheby’s
The Macklowe auction isn’t the only thing Sotheby’s has been up to lately, though. This week, Sotheby’s in New York unveiled a new collection titled Brilliant and Black: A Jewelry Renaissance. Black jewelry designers have been historically under-represented by auction houses, and Sotheby’s has been making an effort to up its inclusiveness in recent years.
The Brilliant and Black collection is open to the public from September 17-26, and is available from the online website until October 10th. The exhibit boasts 60 unique pieces from 21 artists. The artists come from all walks of lives and all art styles, and the pieces run from $1,500 up to $1 million.
Town & Country shares via Yahoo!, “The exhibit came to fruition last year, following the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, when London-based journalist Melanie Grant, who specializes in luxury with a focus on jewelry, decided it was time that the often-overlooked Black talent had a forum. ‘Suddenly, we were talking about things that we never spoke about publicly, like how hard it can be and the barriers we faced as people of color,’ she says. In the insular jewelry world, where designers often rely on connections to access costly stones, it’s especially challenging to get a foothold. That disparity is obvious in the fact that none of the 19 living designers in the exhibition have ever sold a piece at auction.”
Exhibit pieces range from traditional to bold, in a variety of metals and gems. Each piece is a chance to amplify a Black artist, in an industry where they’ve been often kept from the table due to traditional jewelry designers holding positions of power. The exhibit marks another step forward in the art world, long overdue.
Karl Lagerfeld Collection Auction
Another auction coming soon to Sotheby’s is the collection of Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away in 2019. Lagerfeld is a design and creative icon, with an eclectic and fascinating collection now coming to auction. Pieces will be distributed for auction at Monaco (December 3rd-5th), Paris (December 14th-15th), and Cologne (Spring 2022).
Sotheby’s has revealed that the collection will include his famous fingerless gloves, over 200 pieces that have come to be associated with his style. The auction lot of over 1,000 pieces also includes his Rolls Royce motor collection and the dishes used to serve food to his feline friend Choupette.
The auction will include pieces from Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Marc Newson. Also included will be clothing from Dior, Saint Laurent and Martin Margiela, and suitcases from Goyard. Hero Magazine reports, “Sotheby’s promises the auction to be ‘as surprising and multi-faceted as the designer himself’, citing the sale as ‘an anthology of his personal taste but also of his life and career’. It’s not the first time Lagerfeld’s private collections have been under the hammer, the Chanel designer previously sold his 18th-century French furniture and artwork collection to Christie’s for $28.5 million in 2000 and his Art Deco collection to Sotheby’s in 2003.”
Lagerfeld’s iconic style makes his auction lot a highly-sought opportunity for collectors. Sotheby’s has a busy Fall and Winter ahead, and art collectors won’t be sitting these auctions out.