Lehman's CEO consigns Postwar Art to Christie's

Christie's
Study for Agony I: Arshile Gorky (1904-48) estimated to sell for up to $2.8 million

Christie's
Willem de Kooning's 'Woman' estimated to sell for up to $4 million

In the wake of the bankruptcy of Lehman Br Holdings (OTC: LEHMQ), chairman and CEO Dick Fuld and his wife Kathy have begun selling off their prized collection of modern art.

The couple have consigned 16 post war drawings to Christies auction house.
The pre-sale estimation is $ 15 to $ 20 Million.
The auction house also confirmed the deal included a guarantee, an undisclosed sum promised to the seller whether or not the works sell.

The drawings will be shopped to potential bidders in Moscow and London before being offered Nov. 12 during the fall auctions in New York.

Kathy Fuld , a trustee at the Museum of Modern Art, and her husband, Richard S. Fuld Jr., the longtime chief executive of Lehman Brothers, which is now bankrupt live in Greenwich, Connecticut.
They also own a $21 million Park Avenue co-op, a home in Vermont, another one in Sun Valley, Idaho and in 2004 acquired a fantastic oceanfront property in Jupiter Island, Fl for only $ 13.75 Million.

The 16 drawings are mostly abstract and minimalist examples from the mid-century NY School of artist.

A Willem de Kooning's 1951 drawing of a nude woman titled "Woman," is estimated to sell at $ 4 Million.
Other works such as Agnes Martin could sell for $ 700,000, an untitled 1960 abstract from Barnett Newman could reach $ 2 Million and "Study for Agony I" ( 1946) by Arshile Gorky is estimated at $ 2.8 Million.


Via: The Wall Street Journal

Christie's Contemporary Art Auction

Clyfford Still

*
Clyfford Still's 1946 PH-182 sold for $14,041,000.

Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild sold for $14,601,000.

Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko's No 15 brought in $50,441,000.

Christie's New York staged an incredible Post-War and Contemporary Art sale that brought close to $350 million. Several museum-quality works were on offer among the 57 lots.

The NY Times reports that 70 percent of the buyers were American, 26 percent European (including Russians) and 4 percent Asian.
The top seller was Rothko's No. 15 (1952) an abstract red and yellow which sold for $50.4 million. It was sold by the San Francisco collector Roger Evans, who bought it at Sotheby’s in 1999 for $11 million.

We will be watching tonight at Sotherby's for a similar Rothko from 1956 estimated to fetch
$30 M to $40 M.

$1 Billion of Artworks...

"The European Fine Art Fair," also known as TEFAF, scheduled to run from March 7th - 16th offers $1 Billion of Artworks to Collectors. Last year the fair sold more than $500 million in fine art.

Over 220 of the world’s most prestigious international dealers will be part of this outstanding event.
A unique chance to buy paintings from Bruegel to Bacon as well as objects reflecting 6,000 years of excellence in the applied arts.

TEFAF is geared towards the "highest caliber of collector,"...Among many valuable items that will be available for sale is the 1890 "The Child with an Orange" by Van Gogh for $30 million.

Focusing on Art...

It is said that the arts are what make a civilization civil ...
Whether musical, theatrical or visual, the arts enrich our lives.
They color our existence and inspire our dreams!
They entertain us and delight our senses.

Contemporary Art Goes for $ 34.2 Million

Christie's New York sale of postwar and contemporary art in New York turned into an auctioneer's dream.

Mark Rothko's "Untitled (Red, Blue, Orange)" of 1955 topped the list at $34.2 million, matching the upper end of the estimate. With its blue toned rectangle painted above a lower orange-ochre rectangle, it looked familiar.
The third highest price also went to an abstract composition by Rothko, "No. 7 (Dark over Light)," done the year before. It went for $21 million.

Modern Art

Julie 53 x 43.5 $ 1,398

Thoughts of When Male 24x30 $ 950

Thoughts Of When Female 24x30 $ 950

Bargain Hunting Street People 35x47 $ 1,178

In Fours # 14414 36x48 $ 1,278

This modern art collection comes from the Victor Klauss art collection of East Germany.
Rich vibrant colors in oil and a romantic theme are obvious. Klauss always includes hidden messages addressing modern issues with his contemporary style.
Most of the limited edition pieces are numbered, signed by the artist and delivered with a certificate of authenticity
Each series contains about 500 limited edition oils. The original is destroyed and 500 copies are certificated and signed by the artist.

Email me if you are looking for any of these pieces.