Post-War & Contemporary Art

We were asked by a firm of philanthropic advisors to represent a Chicago private client in the sale of a large and diverse collection of Post-War and Contemporary art. The client’s husband, now deceased, had enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a private dealer for such major contemporary artists as Richard Serra, Thomas Schutte, Bruce Nauman, Donald Judd and many others.  

As the client wished to designate a portion of the sale proceeds to various environmental organizations of great importance to her, the sale of the collection had to emphasize not only its great strengths and distinctions but also gain recognition for the charities. Our firm thus worked closely with the auction house chosen for the sale to create the most advantageous marketing and promotional plan for the collection with the charitable aspect prominently conveyed.  

The actual sales were highly successful, taking place in November 2014 at the most high-profile series of Post-War auctions in art market history.  Noteworthy were a sensational and monumental cast bronze and copper sculpture of 2003 by Bruce Nauman, Fish Fountain, which had been specially created for the client by the artist and which achieved $2,045,000. Schutte’s haunting sculpture Vater Staat, swathed tightly in cloth, brought $1,205,000; and another version of this iconic work, also titled Vater Staat and offered for sale in London, brought $1,191,748. The collection also included many stunning works by such prominent contemporary artists as Robert Mangold, Richard Artschwager, Charles Ray, Rodney Graham and Carl Andre, many of whom had worked closely with our client and her late husband.