Leger's Cup of Tea is estimated at up to 12 million dollars. (click on image to enlarge)
THE amazing collection of Max Palevsky comprising over 250 works is to be offered at multiple auctions at Christie’s in New York from October 2010. The sales are expected to realise from $53 million to $78 million.
Palevsky (1924-2010) was a Chicago born innovator in systems technology. In 1951 he left his job as a philosophy professor at the University of California, Los Angeles to pursue the fledgling field of computers, working with firms like Bendix and Packard Bell. In the early ’60’s he co-founded Scientific Data Systems, which he eventually sold to Xerox in 1969 for close to $1 billion and helped found Intel Corp.
He began collecting art later in life. The Collection of Max Palevsky comprises Antiquities, Impressionist and Modern Art, Post-War and Contemporary Art, 20th Century Decorative Arts and Design, Prints and Multiples, Japanese Art, Latin American Art, American Sculpture and Modern British Art. The top lot, one of five works by Fernand Léger (1881-1955), is La Tasse de Thé 1921 estimated at $8,000,000-12,000,000. It will be sold in early November. The sales include blue chip works by Rodin, Lichtenstein, Calder, Judd and Stella.