The Modern and Contemporary art collection accumulated over a 60-year period by singer Andy Williams will be sold at auction later this year.
Appearing as part of a series of ten sales in New York and
Europe, the collection comes from Williams' two houses in
California and Missouri, as well as his own Moon River Theate.
The sales will start at Christie's New
York with Impressionist and Modern art works from the collection in
their May 8-9 auction followed by post-War and Contemporary art in
their day and evening sales on May 15-16.
Other works will be included in sales
of American art, Latin American art, prints and multiples, African
and Oceanic art and 20th Century decorative art and design, split
between New York, London and Paris.
Christie's expect to raise more than
$30m from the first post-War and Contemporary art offering
alone.
Williams - who said that his
alternative career would have been as an art dealer - was noted as
a collector for his breadth of knowledge, enthusiasm and
discernment.
Most prominently, the sales will include works by Willem de
Kooning, Hans Hofmann, Richard Diebenkorn, Franz Kline, Jean-Michel
Basquiat and Pablo Picasso.
Indeed, Williams was a particularly admirer of Willem de
Kooning's art, amassing numerous paintings and bronze sculptures by
the artist.
One of the highlights of the collection is Untitled
XVII, produced during the artist's final years of painting.
Executed in 1984, the auctioneers said it "possesses the dynamism
and immediacy of the artist's best works".
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