Wynn artwork sells for $16M at New York auction
A painting from Elaine Wynn’s collection sold for more than $16 million Monday in a luxury art auction in New York.
Joan Mitchell’s “Sunflower V” oil on canvas realized $16,735,000. The piece was among several from Wynn’s collection at her Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York homes presented during Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale. The auction was held “in a packed, energetic saleroom” at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, according to a Christie’s news release.
Wynn died in April at age 82 at her residence Los Angeles. Several pieces in her collection were presented during the event. Christie’s has not disclosed the results of the other sales.
The auction house estimated the value of Wynn’s paintings to exceed $75 million. The presented artworks included paintings by Richard Diebenkorn, Joseph Mallord William Turner, Mitchell, Fernand Léger, as well as Georges Seurat, Henri Matisse and Wayne Thiebaud.
The 20th Century Evening Sale achieved a total of $471,274,400, selling 98 percent by lot and 100 percent by value. That means 98 percent of the lots successfully sold, and the hammer prices of all items sold reached 100 percent of the estimated value (usually the low estimate).
Of the 80 paintings sold, Wynn’s was one of 21 to sell for more than $10 million. Claude Monet’s masterpiece “Nymphéas” from the collection of Japan’s Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, achieved the auction’s highest price, $45,485,000 after more than two minutes of bidding, according to Christie’s.
Additional strong prices were achieved for the first double portrait by David Hockney, “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy,” which brought $44,335,000.
Wynn became an active collector in the 1980s.
“My mother was a visceral collector who just happened to gravitate toward art that would become, if not already, objectively substantial,” her daughter Gillian Wynn said in an essay published in the Christie’s catalog. “In this manner, she amassed a collection that was both deeply personal and admirably legit.” Daughter Kevyn Wynn said, “Our mother lived a life filled with passion, conviction and grace. She had uncompromising standards and we have every confidence that Christie’s will uphold her vision and legacy.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
