Skip to main content

Magazine

Christie's 8-9 May Sales of Post-War and Contemporary Art

With the six paintings by German artist Gerhard Richter likely to contribute in excess of $40m, the Christie's New York sales on 8-9 May at the Rockefeller Center could well break yet more records.

While other salerooms might carefully eke out the artistic treasure contained in this catalogue, Christie's will sell it over just two days. In addition to the Richters, the catalogue includes 38 lots of abstract impressionism from the collection of David and Gerry Pincus.

The Pincus Collection, assembled over five decades by the husband-and-wife team, comprises drawings, paintings, sculpture and contemporary photography by Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman, Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still and Jeff Wall. Its focus point is that 'transcendental masterpiece', Mark Rothko's 'Orange, Red, Yellow, 1961'.

 

Christie's 8-9 May Sales of Post-War and Contemporary Art Christie's 8-9 May Sales of Post-War and Contemporary Art

Evelyn D. Haas (with her husband Walter A. Haas, Jr.) is a leading fundraiser for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Her collection is known for concentrating on Modern and Contemporary paintings and sculpture from important post-War artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Barnett Newman, Vija Celmins, Richard Prince and Wayne Thiebaud, plus Modern artists Pablo Picasso, Raoul Dufy and Maurice Utrillo.

 

In addition to the Richters, and the two collections, the sale has several works by Alexander Calder, Jasper Johns, Cindy Sherman, Cecily Brown, Anish Kapoor, Richard Artschwager, Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

'FC1 (Fire Colour 1)', by Yves Klein (1928-1962), might well be the single most expensive painting of the two-dale sale. Estimate: $30,000,000 - 40,000,000.

The sales will take place at Christie's New York Saleroom, 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020 on 8 and 9 May 2012. Viewing days are 4, 5, 6, 7 May.


Photos: Christie's / Lot 37: Andy Warhol, 'Small Campbell's Soup Can (Chili Beef)' / Lot 16:Roy Lichtenstein, 'Anxious Girl (Study)' / Lot 49: Gerhard Richter, 'Abstraktes Bild Violett (600-2)'

For further information, see  www.christies.com.