Eight Works Could Jointly Earn $100M at Sotheby’s

Tags: Abstract Expressionism, Clyfford Still, de Kooning, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell, New York, Sotheby's, Upcoming Auctions

Eight Abstract Expressionist works going to auction on November 13 at Sotheby’s New York could jointly earn $100 million. The works come from the collection of Milwaukee businessman Sidney Kohl and his wife Dorothy, who started collecting in the early 1970s.

The works come from Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Hans Hoffman, Arshile Gorky and Adolph Gottlieb. Together, these artists contributed to one of the most significant, and profitable, movements in American art history.

Pollock’s “Number 4, 1951,” (below, left) a characteristic drip painting, will lead the sale with an estimate of $35 million. Only 8 drip paintings by Pollock have been auctioned off in the past 20 years.

Clyfford Still’s “1948-H” (below, right) and de Kooning’s “Abstraction” are also main attractions, with each carrying a $20 million estimate. They are accompanied by Kline’s “Shenandoah,” Hoffman’s “Nirvana” and Mitchell’s “Untitled,” each valued at around $8 million, as well as “Transfiguration” by Gottlieb and “Impatience” by Gorky.

According to Tobias Meyer, worldwide head of Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s, the sale is a rare and important one. “To offer a group of true masterpieces that have remained together in the same private collection for four decades is an event nearly unheard of in the art market.”

[via Reuters]

Photos courtesy of Sotheby’s