Sotheby’s Taubman Collection Sale Could Be Its Biggest Art Auction Ever
Sotheby's (BID) - Get Report is gearing up for what could be its biggest auction in history.
The vast, 500-piece collection of artwork and sculptures is from billionaire real estate developer and former Sotheby's owner A. Alfred Taubman, who passed away earlier this year. The auction boasts paintings from legendary artists like Rothko, Modigliani and Picasso, and could be worth more than $500 million in total.
"The contemporary art that Mr. Taubman collected is exceptional," said Alexander Rotter, senior vice president and co-head of contemporary art worldwide at Sotheby's. "It's highlighted by two amazing [Mark] Rothko paintings -- one from 1952 and one from 1962. Both of them are expected to sell between $20 million and $30 million."
As for who is scooping up paintings with 8-figure price tags -- it all comes back to one thing.
"Everyone who has the money can be a buyer," Rotter added.
But it's not just paintings from the world's most famous artists. The Taubman collection includes a host of statues and sculptures.
"He collected lots of wonderful sculptures from Jean Arp and Ignazio Jacometti," Rotter said. "The variety and the scope of his collecting went two dimensional, three dimensional -- in every direction."
Taubman is also famous for founding Taubman Centers (TCO) - Get Report , a publicly traded real estate investment trust that develops shopping malls.
"There are 2,000 years of art history [at the auction]," said Simon Shaw, co-head of impressionist and modern art worldwide at Sotheby's. "And he was very much a self-made man and a self-made collector. He chose what he liked, and looked at all different types of art from around the world."
The collection is so vast, the auction will be held in phases over the next six months starting Nov. 4. Sotheby's expects sales from the Taubman collection to eclipse the Christie's 2009 auction from Yves Saint Laurent, which brought in $477 million.