Christie’s will be presenting 16 groundbreaking works from the media magnate’s collection.
As a lover of art and passionate collector, Samuel Irving “S.I.” Newhouse, Jr. amassed an impressive selection throughout his life.
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Along with his brother, Newhouse inherited Advance Publications from his father. The company owned properties such as Condé Nast (publisher of Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker).
At one point, the media magnate owned one of the most valuable paintings in the world, a Jackson Pollock drip painting titled No. 5, 1948.
In 1988, Newhouse placed a bid for a Jasper Johns painting titled False Start. Because the painter was one of his favorite artists, he acquired the piece for $17 million. At the time, this was the highest price for an artwork of a living artist.
#Bestof2019 Rabbit was offered in New York in May, the ultimate prize from the collection of S.I. Newhouse. The work sold for $91,075,000, and set a new #WorldAuctionRecord for a work by a living artist https://t.co/wWZtApchsf pic.twitter.com/DdaZjr9K84
— Christie’s (@ChristiesInc) December 23, 2019
By 2019, Jeff Koon’s Rabbit sculpture was the last of his works that belonged in a private collection. When Newhouse sold it at Christie’s, New York that year, the price went up to $91,075,000.
The Koons piece broke the record for the most expensive work by a living artist to be sold at auction.
The latest auction will be held during the 20th and 21st Century sale week at Christie’s New York in May.
The Masterpieces from the Collection of S.I. Newhouse includes works by Willem de Kooning, Francis Bacon, and Pablo Picasso. The pieces are estimated to sell for $20-$25 million each.
Christie’s will present 16 masterpieces from the collection of S.I. Newhouse, the third in a series of historic sales from the legendary Condé Nast co-owner who built one of the greatest art collections of the 20th century.
— Christie’s (@ChristiesInc) February 21, 2023
Read more below:https://t.co/qRU3ffpXRQ
Tobias Meyer, advisor to the Newhouse family, described the collector as very determined. “He inspired others to be determined in their collecting as well. He showed them how to be passionate, which also made many people want to own his paintings.”
Banner image via Instagram @christiesinc.
