Shipments are arriving in droves and fast for New York’s auction season in November. The latest collection to come off the block comes from the late David Solinger, a media and art attorney who was chairman of the board of trustees of the Whitney Museum in New York and who died in 1996. Solinger’s fascination with the he art began when he studied painting in the 1940s, turning him into an avid collector who rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Those he came to represent professionally included Hans Hofmann, Louise Nevelson and Robert Motherwell.
Sotheby’s will offer around 90 of Solinger’s works, valued at more than $100 million, with the most expensive works slated for a dedicated sale on November 14. $25 million and Pablo Picasso’s “Woman in an Armchair” (1927, est. $15-20 million).
Solinger bought most of his works from galleries between 1951 and 1955, notes Oliver Barker, president of Sotheby’s Europe, and the shadow of World War II hangs over the collection. The Picasso was deposited by the artist at MoMA in New York for safekeeping during the war, while another work – “Woman, Stars” by Joan Miró (estimated between 15 and 20 million dollars) – was painted May 7, 1945, the day Germany surrendered.
Unusually these days, the works are neither guaranteed for sale nor donated to charity, although Solinger “was an incredible philanthropist in his lifetime,” Barker says.
‘Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Small version)’ (1888) by Georges Seurat
Christie’s does not shy away from superlatives for its guaranteed charity auction of the “collection of unparalleled magnitude” of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018. It is certainly a highly prized consignment and , with Christie’s predicting “a $1 Billion Sale” on November 9-10, it’s a good idea to keep momentum high.
More details about the “500 years of groundbreaking art” were revealed last week, including three works estimated at over $100 million – by Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh. The first work announced to date is “The Five Senses” by Jan Brueghel the Younger (estimated between 4 and 6 million dollars) and the last confirmed work is the triptych by Francis Bacon “Three Studies for Self-Portrait” (1979, low estimate $25 million). An Instagram reel from Christie’s features other goodies – including a more recent painting by David Hockney and works by Kandinsky and Brice Marden – although the auction house has yet to provide more information on that. .
This week marks the opening of 125 Newbury Street in New York, the favorite project of Arne Glimcher, founder of Pace. The gallery is on the corner of Broadway and Walker Street in Tribeca, but is named after Pace’s original location, which Glimcher opened in Boston in 1960. He remains president of Pace, now run by his son Marc Glimcher, and the companies share other staff. “We are a family, both dependent and independent. The rhythm is that of Marc; I own 125 Newburys,” says Glimcher.
He describes his gallery as “a very selfish dream” born out of the need for “a rejuvenating episode to feel relevant”. His dream includes longer-lasting exhibitions that reflect his taste, a luxury that a global gallery such as Pace cannot always afford. “I visit a lot of salons, but there are so many I plan to see and by the time I arrive they have closed,” he says – a familiar sentiment to many in the market.
His opening show, Wild strawberries, some of whose works are for sale, uses the title of a 1957 film by Ingmar Bergman – its opening sequence has a figure that blends into the sidewalk – to explore the works of 17 artists who explore the “transformations surrealists”. These include artists who rose to fame when Glimcher started in the 1960s – Paul Thek, Lucas Samaras and Lee Bontecou – and extend to contemporary works by Julie Curtiss, Kathleen Ryan and Brandon Ndife (September 30-November 19 ).
British dealer Robert Newland, who had worked at companies including Christie’s, White Cube, Hauser & Wirth and most recently Superblue, pleaded guilty in US District Court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, under the mn scheme of Inigo Philbrick, who was sentenced to seven years in prison earlier this year.
Newland, 45, was extradited to the United States on September 22. A Justice Department statement says Newland ‘conspired with Inigo Philbrick to take advantage of the art market’s lack of transparency’ in a ‘vast fraud’ involving the sale of more than 100% ownership of a work of art. ‘art. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, the statement said, but added that “the defendant’s sentence will be determined by a judge.”
‘Self-Portrait of Giorgione’ (1792) by Antonio Canova © Courtesy Antonacci Lapiccirella Fine Art
The Antonacci Lapiccirella gallery presented the story of a tower at the Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato di Firenze (BIAF), which runs until October 2. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the death of Antonio Canova, his “Self-portrait of Giorgione” (1792) is the work that crowns the artist, famous for his sculpture, as a leading painter. As its title suggests, Canova’s work was successfully presented to artists and intellectuals in Rome in the form of a self-portrait by the famous Venetian Giorgione, who died in 1510. In fact, Canova had made the work on a 16th century panel, painting over a depiction of the Holy Family – recorded at the same time and confirmed by subsequent infrared investigation.
The work, now on offer for €550,000, was spotted by the gallery, which made it the focus of its BIAF stand and is attracting a lot of interest during the bustling fair, says Francesca Antonacci, who runs the gallery with Damiano Lapiccirella. He is, however, unable to leave Italy due to the country’s strict and controversial export laws. The work will be presented at the exhibition Giorgione and Canova: the story of a farce at the Casa Giorgione Museum, Castelfranco Veneto (October 14-February 15, 2023).
