Sotheby's November Marquee Sales Unveiled
A Legacy of Beauty: The Collection of Sydell Miller
Featuring Seminal Artworks by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Les Lalannes, Wassily Kandinsky, Yves Klein, Robert Goosens
The Now and Contemporary Art Auctions
Highlighted by American Icons, Including Major Works By Stuart Davis, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha & More
Modern Art Auctions
Major Works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Alberto Giacometti, Including the Greatest Work in Sculpture by Surrealist Leonora Carrington
Sotheby’s today unveils the full offerings for the November Marquee auction series in New York, the exhibitions of which will open on 8 November.
Headlining the week’s sales is the esteemed collection of entrepreneur and philanthropist Sydell Miller. Presented in landmark Evening and Day sales, the collection reflects how Sydell Miller surrounded herself with beauty in all of its forms – where fine art and important design coexisted in harmony. Encompassing masterpieces of Modern and Contemporary art, sculpture, and icons of design, this collection unites the finest works across periods, styles, and forms: from an enthralling example of Monet’s iconic Nymphéas (estimate on request) to Kandinsky’s explosion of geometric exuberance (est. $15-20m); from Picasso’s first depiction of a female artist (estimate on request) to an elegant Matisse portrait from wartime France (est. $3-5m); from an extraordinary work by Yves Klein executed at the height of his career (est. $8-12m); to unique and defining commissions by François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, and emerging Contemporary designers, including Robert Goosens and Joseph Walsh. Sotheby’s will also present fashion from the Collection of Sydell Miller on 8-26 November, with additional sales of jewelry, objet, furniture and decorative arts to come in December (more details here).
As the United States prepares to elect a new president, The Now and Contemporary Evening Auction on 20 November features a selection of iconic works that have both reflected and defined American cultural life over recent decades. Highlights range from Willem de Kooning’s striking Untitled XXV (est. $9-12 million) to Lichtenstein’s Pop Art portrayal of the Oval Office (est. $1-1.5m), to a group of iconic Keith Haring subway drawings (estimates range from $40,000 - 700,000, on offer in the Contemporary Day Auction), to Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (est. $1-1.5m), a banana fastened with duct tape to a wall that shocked the crowds in its debut at Art Basel Miami Beach and instantly went viral.
This season’s Modern Evening Auction on 18 November presents an extraordinary selection of works spanning the breadth of Modern art, featuring significant paintings such as Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme (est. $9-12m), Henri Matisse’s Torse de jeune fille (est. $12-18m), and Franz Marc’s Das Lange Gelbe Pferd (est. $8-12m), alongside remarkable masterworks in sculpture including Alberto Giacometti’s Buste (Tête tranchante) (Diego)(est. $10-15m) and Leonora Carrington’s La Grande Dame (The Cat Woman) (est. $5-7m). For the first time ever, Sotheby’s Modern Evening Auction will include a spectacular work by Tiffany Studios: The Danner Memorial Window, the most valuable work by Tiffany's to ever be offered at auction (est. $5 - 7m).
For the fourth consecutive year, Sotheby’s New York Sales, encompassing the Modern, Contemporary, and The Now Evening Auctions, will be presented in partnership with Samsung, the #1 global TV brand for 18 years. Powering Sotheby’s pre-sale exhibitions, Samsung will showcase their cutting-edge screens throughout Sotheby’s galleries, including a special, immersive exhibition of Keith Haring’s drawings from 8 – 20 November. The design of the exhibition will replicate a vintage 1980s New York City subway station complete with details like turnstiles and benches. The space will also leverage cutting edge Samsung technology – including the Samsung Neo QLED 8K and The Premiere 9 triple laser projector – to bring to life archival footage of Keith Haring creating his drawings to create the experience of viewing the works “in-situ” as when they were first created more than four decades ago.
Please find further information on the forthcoming sales in the attached press releases.
