Macklowe divorce art collection sells for $676m in auction

It took years, but Harry and Linda Macklowe finally have an answer to one of the lingering concerns surrounding their bitter divorce: how valuable was the art collection they amassed over five decades? 35 works of art held by the former marriage were auctioned for $676 million on Monday at Sotheby's New York offices, including masterpieces by Alberto Giacometti, Mark Rothko, and Cy Twombly.

The collection topped Sotheby's $400 million estimates, making it one of the largest ever sold at auction. Long disputes raged over many works, confirming a New York judge's decision to auction the art after real estate mogul Harry and art collector Linda fought over prices.

According to Sotheby's, paintings by Agnes Martin and Philip Guston sold for more than double their midpoint predictions, setting new records for Martin, Jackson Pollock, Robert Irwin, and Michael Heizer.

Martin's "Untitled #44", a minimalist painting with alternating bands of powder blue and ivory, sold for $17.7 million, including fees. Pollock's abstract "Number 17, 1951," from his Black Paintings series, also reached a new high with a price tag of $61 million, including fees.

The most expensive painting of the night was Rothko's "No. 7," which was painted in 1951 and incorporates the color blocks that are among his most well-known designs. It sold for $82.5 million, including fees.

Twombly's massive 18-foot wide painting of red peonies created and bought in 2007, sold for $58.9 million, including fees. Giacometti's long-nosed bronze sculpture Le Nez, finished in 1965, sold for $78.4 million.

One of the outstanding lots, an unsettling silkscreen of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol, garnered barely a brief bidding war before selling for $42 million. Barker reopened the bidding near the end of the night, and the painting sold for $47.4 million, including fees. The 35 parcels sold for $589.7 million before fees, which is closer to the final amount shared by the Macklowes.

The first of two auctions that will resolve the long-running divorce fight between the Macklowes took place on Monday. The breakup has already been finalized, which became tabloid fodder after Harry put up big images of himself and his new wife on one of his opulent Park Avenue developments in a taunt of his ex-wife.

Linda, on the other hand, had fought an outright sale of the art during the divorce process. A judge ordered her and her former spouse to dispose of much of their collection since they couldn't agree on the value of many of the works. Their estimates on one work diverged by around $30 million in one case.

“When you value real estate, you could have three other apartments in the same building. You’ll have an apartment across the street, you’ll have comparables,” said Dan Rottenstreich, a partner at Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstriech, the law firm that represented Harry in the divorce. “With art, you have one in the world and if it hasn’t changed hands in decades, it is hard to find a comparable.”

Many art auctions are held behind closed doors, according to Rottenstreich, making it difficult for a court to certify the assessments. The sales, which had been stalled due to the coronavirus outbreak, arrived in a resurgent art market, particularly at the top end. Last week, Christie's in New York sold slightly over $1.1 billion in art as part of its twice-yearly season. On top of Monday's performance, Sotheby's and Phillips expect to sell at least $550 million in the next few days.

Details about the Messy Macklowe Art Auction

Harry Macklowe and his wife Linda amassed a large and massively rich collection of blue-chip 20th- and 21st-century art over their 57-year marriage, including Rothko, Twombly, Warhol, Richter, Marden, Giacometti, de Kooning, Pollock, Picasso, Johns, and many others. And not just one Warhol or Twombly, but numerous works by each artist, "each one reflecting a separate and key time in the respective careers," according to Sotheby's, which is auctioning off the couple's collection in the wake of their bitter divorce. The auction house lists estimates in excess of $600 million, the largest ever for a collection. (The David Rockefeller collection, which was sold at Christie's in 2018, fetched $832 million against a $500 million estimate.) The sale will take place in two parts: tonight and next spring. "The art world will be fighting over it," a former vice-chairman of Sotheby's told the New York Times about the collection.

This is appropriate, considering the Macklowes were known for their squabbles. Vicky Ward said in her 2014 book The Liar's Ball that the marriage was "frequently compared to an Edward Albee play." Both Macklowes have been overheard publicly disparaging each other and their marriage." Despite the vehement protests, "they were inseparable." At least until 2016, when Harry married Patricia Landeau, president of the French Friends of the Israel Museum, and left Linda for him. He posted 42-foot-high headshots of himself and his new bride on the outside of 432 Park, the super-tall he developed with CIM Group, two years later, after the divorce was finalized. (It, too, is rumored to have started to break apart.)

Why are the Macklowes selling the art rather than dividing it?

According to Harry Macklowe's divorce counsel, David Boies, the collection accounted for 60 to 75 percent of the couple's assets. (They split the money in their combined bank accounts, which totaled $1.37 million, for a total of $689,941 apiece.) According to Boies, the work had to be sold in order for both Macklowes to maintain their lifestyle. Linda, an honorary trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, preferred to sell it piece by piece since she was in desperate need of cash. Harry had dismissed that proposal. The court ordered the collection to be sold at auction because the couple couldn't agree on the worth of the art - their appraisers came up roughly $100 million apart. (However, Linda was allowed to keep a group of artifacts worth a total of $39 million.)

Just how much will be for sale?

There are 65 items in total, 35 of which will be auctioned in November. The couple's collection of paintings and sculptures outgrew their $72 million apartments at the Plaza, which is made up of seven units that stretch the length of one side of the building. According to the New York Times, the overflow could not fit into their $19 million Hamptons mansion. Some of the items had to be stored. According to a friend of Linda's, the collection "really became the dominant, driving factor" in her life. Harry, on the other hand, is known to relish the excitement of bidding at auctions.

What makes the collection so priceless?

The collection offers the depth, with many pieces "creating an incisive portrayal of the artists' progression over time," according to Sotheby's, in addition to featuring so many well-known painters.

Alberto Giacometti's Le Nez, a sculpture with a "Pinocchio-like" nose that protrudes beyond the bars of a cage, is projected to sell for between $70 and $90 million. According to Artnet, "prices for Giacometti sculptures initially began to surge around 2010, when L'homme Qui Marche I became one of the few works to cross the $100 million mark at auction."

Andy Warhol's Nine Marilyns, estimated at $40 million to $50 million; Cy Twombly's Untitled, an 18-foot-wide canvas estimated at $40 million to $60 million; and Mark Rothko's No. 7, created in 1951 and estimated at $70 million to $90 million, are among the other high-profile works. Jeff Koons', Brice Marden's, Agnes Martin's, Sigmar Polke's, and Gerhard Richter's works are also projected to sell for a lot of money - just not quite that much.

Why are artists so enthusiastic about this?

According to the New York Times, "auction houses have suffered from a scarcity of top-quality inventory" even before COVID-19, "making a meaty collection like that of the Macklowes an especially invigorating prize." Sotheby's beat Christie's to it, apparently by promising a guarantee of $650 million to $700 million.

What happens to the rest of the couple's property?

Linda was offered a 14,000-square-foot condominium at the Plaza, which is essentially a medium-sized art gallery with a bedroom suite attached. "It's arguably the largest master bedroom I've ever seen," real-estate appraiser Jonathan Miller told the court during the couple's divorce. For the Plaza apartment and their yacht, Harry received a $36 million credit. He took the automobiles, and she took the silver. They also put their Hamptons home on the market for $21 million. It has yet to sell.

Is there any more art not included in the auction that Linda is saving aside from those paintings? The massive photos of Harry Macklowe and his second wife, which he had printed in polyester mesh and hung on 432 Park with the help of a sign company.