In November Sotheby’s and Christie’s Will Put Major Private and Museum Collections Under the Hammer

Sotheby’s will offer for sale the collection of the Ertegun family, founders of the record label Atlantic Records. The principal lot is Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait of 1940, estimated at $40 million. Also on offer will be works from the collection of the billionaire Leonard Lauder, founder of the Estée Lauder cosmetics group. It comprises 55 works, including Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer”, as well as works by Matisse and Munch. The collection’s total estimate is around $400 million. The collection of Jay and Cindy Pritzker, owners of the Hyatt hotel chain and founders of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, may fetch a further $120 million. It includes a still life by van Gogh.

Christie’s, for its part, will auction the collection of the private museum of contemporary art Kawamura Memorial, which closed this spring in the Japanese city of Sakura. Among the main lots are Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” and works by Renoir and Chagall. Christie’s has also agreed to sell the family collection of Robert and Patricia Weis. Their children will put up 80 works by Matisse, Picasso and Rothko with a combined estimate of $180 million. In addition, the auction house will present more than a dozen works from the collection of the late billionairess Elaine Wynn.