On Thursday, Christie’s introduced that it’ll promote dozens of works by artists together with Pablo Picasso, René Magritte, Giacometti, and Piet Mondrian from the gathering of the late Barnes & Noble founder—and former ARTnews High 200 collector—Leonard Riggio.
Valued at $250 million, the 30 or so works will go below the hammer throughout the home’s upcoming spring gross sales in New York.
The e book mogul’s spouse, Louise, is downsizing from their Park Avenue condominium—the place the trove of works held courtroom—after he handed final yr.
“That is powerful for me to say goodbye to outdated pals, however I cannot put them in storage,” she mentioned of the artworks, as reported by the New York Instances. “They have to be seen.”
A Mondrian work that hung within the vestibule of the Riggio’s lux condominium is because of be the public sale’s headline act, with a reported excessive estimate of over $51 million. (The same portray by the artist titled Composition No. II bought for that file worth at Sotheby’s in 2022.)
Christie’s received the tender after a bidding struggle with Sotheby’s. Based on the New York Instances, in a curious transfer, the latter home reportedly enlisted mega-gallery Tempo to attraction Louise Riggio, though Sotheby’s and Tempo have up to now declined to remark.
“We’ve got a longstanding relationship with Christie’s,” she mentioned.
As ARTnews’ Daniel Cassady wrote final week, Leonard Riggio “was a profound collector of the Minimalists and a driving power behind the institution of Dia:Beacon in Upstate New York.” Among the many treasures Riggio stored at his Bridgehampton dwelling was Richard Serra’s 300-ton metal sculpture Sidewinder (1999), which was seen from area because of Google Earth satellites.
The Riggio sale will likely be a check for the artwork market’s well being after a number of years of disappointing public sale outcomes, not helped by international battle, final yr’s US presidential marketing campaign, and now, it appears, President Donald Trump’s plan to impose widespread tariffs.
Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan described the Riggios as “true collectors.”
