PIET MONDRIAN (1872-1944) Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue, 21 ¼ x 21 in. (54 x 53.3 cm.) Painted in Paris in 1922. UPDATE: THIS MADE $47.6 million
Art by Mondrian, Magritte, Picasso, Giacometti, Warhol and other luminaries will come under the hammer at Christie’s in New York in May in a single owner evening sale. The Leonard and Louise Riggio collected works will be offered during Spring Marquee Week. The founder of Barnes and Noble died last year and his widow is downsizing from her Manhattan apartment on Park Avenue. With more than 30 works that represent an anthology of changing ideas, the works in the collection range from Surrealist musings to reflections on the influence of Classicism. Collectively, the artworks in the sale are expected to realise in excess of $250 million. The collection will be toured to London, Hong Kong, Paris, Dubai and Los Angeles.
The Mondrian is expected to be the top lot with an estimate that is expected to top the $51 million record for a work by the artist set in 2022. The selection also features two exemplary Surrealist paintings by René Magritte, including the first work from his most highly coveted series, L’empire des lumières, and Les droits de l’hommes completed just a year prior, in January 1948. Further highlights include a 1937 Pablo Picasso portrait of the renowned photographer Lee Miller and three Alberto Giacometti sculptures, including Femme de Venise I, conceived in 1956 and cast in 1958.
Bonnie Brennan, Christie’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “It is an honour to be entrusted with this inimitable collection, a tribute to Leonard and Louise Riggio and their enduring legacy as patrons of the arts and passionate collectors. Each artwork included in this encyclopedic collection is exemplary, demonstrating the Riggios’ deep appreciation for human creativity. Christie’s strives to present exceptional art and objects, and this seminal collection, to be offered to a global audience this spring, will be a highlight of the year.”
René Magritte – L’empire des lumières. UPDATE: THIS MADE $35 million