The Artist Pension Trust® (APT) is to offer a selection of artworks from its vast holdings at auction for the first time. A total of 34 works have been chosen for Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated sees in New York and London on March 2 and April 12. They are from the studios of trail-blazing contemporary artists including Josh Smith, David Shrigley, Bob & Roberta Smith and Liam Gillick. The proceeds from the sales will benefit artists participating in APT.
Mark Sebba, Chairman of MutualArt, which owns APT, said: “For a decade we’ve had the privilege of working with many of the world’s most promising artists as we have been assembling an unprecedented collection of international contemporary art. But while a small number of works have been sold privately in the last couple of years, this spring’s offering represents the first time that works from the collection will be offered at auction. Now is the time for us to broaden our sales activity by launching our first auctions – providing artists with further returns on their contributions to APT, and unveiling the collection to a new, wider, audience”.
The Artist Pension Trust offers long term financial security to select artists around the world. Since launching in 2004 it has compiled the world’s largest collection of international contemporary art, comprising nearly 13,000 artworks by 2,000 diverse artists in 75 different countries. The artists range from those that have participated in the most important fairs and biennials, and have won some of the most prestigious awards, to young artists who are at an earlier stage in their careers. Each participating artist agrees to deposit 20 artworks over a 20-year period. These deposits are then gradually sold to benefit the participating members. Here is a selection from the London and New York auctions:
Bob and Roberta Smith – Jasper Johns is a dinosaur (£1,500-2,000)
Liam Gillick – Brazil Kalmar Text 2006 (£12,000-18,000)
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Keltie Ferris – Kimbo Slice ($20,000-30,000)
Peter Peri – Threefold Circumscribed 1 ($2,500-3,800)