|
 The sale will be led by Mark Rothko's 1951 canvas "No. 21
(Red, Brown, Black and Orange)," which Sotheby's expects could
sell for more than $50 million. Works by Andy Warhol, Pablo
Picasso, Salvador Dali and other top artists from the collection
of Pierre and Sao Schlumberger will also be offered at a series
of modern and contemporary art sales in November.
"Their vision was entirely their own," said Oliver Barker,
deputy chairman of Sotheby's Europe of the Schlumbergers, "a
unique aesthetic that blended their European roots with their
American experience."
Barker said the couple produced "one of the most important
private collections of our time."
Pierre Schlumberger was a French oil industry tycoon whose
father and uncle founded Schlumberger Limited, the world's
largest oil field services company in 1926.
The couple married 1961 and Sao Schlumberger forged close
relationships with artists, acquiring works by masters such as
Warhol and Rothko.
Together they became patrons of the Pompidou Center in Paris,
the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston, and helped fund the restoration of the Palace of
Versailles in France.
They were the first patrons to commission Warhol for a
silkscreen portrait, which became one of the pop artist's stock
in trade, according to Sotheby's.
"Portrait Sao Schlumberger," rendered in Warhol's trademark
quadruple style and for which the artist personally sought out
Sao as his subject, who died in 2007, is estimated to sell for
as much as $3 million. Pierre Schlumberger died in 1986.
[to top of second column] |
Other highlights beyond the Rothko, which the couple purchased from
the artist's estate and has not been seen in public for more than 40
years, include Jean Dubuffet's "Cite Fantoche," estimated at up to
$6 million.
Picasso's 1956 painting of his children Claude and Paloma, which
could sell for as much as $7 million, is expected to be another top
lot.
The Schlumberger collection of some 90 works is among many highly
anticipated offerings of the upcoming fall auctions.
Sotheby's announced last week it was selling Alberto Giacometti's
iconic sculpture "Chariot," which could sell for in excess of $100
million.
Christie's has already announced two major Warhol works depicting
Elvis Presley and Marlon Brando, which together it expects will take
in $130 million. Last week it trumpeted another contemporary
offering, Jeff Koons' "Balloon Monkey," which is expected to sell
for $20 million to $30 million.
Highlights of the Schlumberger collection will go on view in Hong
Kong and London ahead of an Oct. 22-24 special exhibition in its
entirety in New York. Its first offerings will hit the block at
Sotheby's Impressionist and modern art auction on Nov. 4, with other
works sold at contemporary art auctions through Nov. 12.
(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
