30 Works Go on the Block
Charles Saatchi, the British advertising magnate, buys and sells contemporary art these days with a greater frequency than do some dealers. On April 30, Sotheby's in New York will auction about 30 works from Mr. Saatchi's collection. The objects to be offered date from the 1960's to the 80's and include works by such artists as Philip Guston, Jonathan Borofsky, Cy Twombly, Brice Marden and Elizabeth Murray.
"He owns as many as a dozen works by each of these artists," said Lucy Mitchell-Innes, who heads Sotheby's contemporary-art sales. "He's not selling everything -- just a selection. He's broadening and refining the collection, which numbers about 800 paintings and sculptures. And in recent months, he's made some significant purchases."
Although Mr. Saatchi shuns publicity about art purchases and sales, he is allowing Sotheby's to disclose information about his recent collecting activities. In fact, Ms. Mitchell-Inness spoke in greater detail about the works Mr. Saatchi bought recently than about those he is selling. Since January, she said, he had acquired several important works, including one of Frank Stella's first black paintings from 1958, and one of Jasper Johns's "0 to 1" paintings from 1961. In November, she said, he bought two major works from 1961 at auction -- Mr. Twombly's "Untitled," which was sold for $4.8 million at Christie's, and Robert Rauschenberg's "Third Time Painting," which brought $3.1 million at Sotheby's. He also acquired Rene Magritte's "Great War." And he bought two major paintings by Roy Lichtenstein -- a Pop work from the 1960's and a recent painting purchased in the artist's studio.
"The value of what he's selling is not as great as the value of what he's purchased," Ms. Mitchell-Innes said, declining to disclose what Sotheby's expects the Saatchi works will total at the auction. She said one reason Mr. Saatchi is selling Mr. Twombly's "Untitled Gray Painting" from 1969, a work estimated to bring $1 million to $1.5 million, is because it is similar to the one he bought at Christie's.
Other works to be auctioned include Philip Guston's "Edge" from 1976, one of his recurring images of legs, knees and workers' shoes. Sotheby's presale estimate is $700,000 to $900,000. Two six-foot works in oil and wax paintings by Brice Marden -- "Blunder," from 1969, and "Sea Painting I" from 1973-74 -- are two-panel works that Sotheby's expects will sell for $550,000 to $750,000 each.
From Mr. Saatchi's post-Minimal works comes Jonathan Borofsky's "Running Man at 2,550,116," an acrylic on plywood cutout from 1978-79, more than 7 by 9 feet, the only three-dimensional work in this image by the artist ($100,000 to $150,000). Elizabeth Murray's "Sleep" from 1983-84 -- a work of more than 120 square feet -- is expected to realize $80,000 to $100,000. Ms. Mitchell-Innes declined to disclose the titles or pre-sale estimates of the other works being offered.
Larry Gagosian, the Madison Avenue dealer who is Mr. Saatchi's agent, characterized the selections to be auctioned as "a cross-section of virtually everybody in the collection."
"Many are minor in terms of their dollar value," Mr. Gagosian said. "But when he was buying these works typically he got first choice of any given show -- so they are not minor works."
