As the great-granddaughter of Captain Samuel Burk Burnett, the famed cattle rancher and founder of the Burnett oil empire, Anne Marion was born into a legacy of responsibility. She also inherited the rich tradition of art collecting: Anne’s mother collected artworks from Georgia O’Keeffe. Over the years, Anne built a vast, museum-worthy collection in her home in Fort Worth, Texas, led by an impressive array of Pop and Abstract Impressionist masterpieces, including remarkable examples from Clyfford Still, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Gerald Richter. Anne was a philanthropist at heart. As president of the Burnett Foundation, she dispensed more than $600m in charitable donations. She was also a staunch supporter of her hometown, giving numerous gifts to institutions in Fort Worth. A lifelong champion of the arts, Anne and her husband, former Sotheby’s chairman John Marion, notably founded America’s first museum dedicated to a female artist – the Georgia O’Keeffe museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sotheby’s is honoured to offer masterworks from Anne’s estate in a special devoted auction, American Visionary: The Collection of Mrs. John L. Marion, taking place this May in New York.
Auctions and Exhibitions
The Rancher’s Spirit: the Philanthropic Heart and Collecting Eye of Anne Marion
New York | Spring 2021
