Christie’s New York to sell Refco photo art
Published March 3rd, 2006
Christie’s said on Wednesday that it will sell more than 500 photographs by artists such as Richard Avedon and Cindy Sherman from the collection of bankrupt commodities trader Refco Inc.
The collection, to be sold in 340 lots spread across three auctions, is expected to bring in more than US$5 million, Christie’s said. The photographs cost Refco about US$3.5 million, the company’s curator said.
Refco is selling off assets to pay back creditors after an accounting scandal forced the broker out of business. The art auctions will take place in April and May.
Refco began buying art in 1975, and started concentrating on photographs in the 1990s, just as collectors began paying real attention to the medium.
The resulting collection is unusual for a corporate portfolio because it includes at least some works that are graphic, said Amy Cappellazzo, international co-head of Christie’s post-war and contemporary department.
“Sometimes with corporate collections, it’s just about making the walls look pretty,” Cappellazzo said.
But not in Refco’s case. For example, Martha Rosler’s “Bringing The War Home: House Beautiful” features domestic suburban images superimposed on photographs from the Vietnam War. That piece is estimated to sell for US$35,000 to US$45,000.
A Richard Avedon photo of Andy Warhol’s scarred chest is estimated to be worth US$100,000 to US$150,000.
Refco’s art collection focused on contemporary conceptual photography, or photos that are meant to depict an artist’s idea rather than record things or events in the world, said Adam Brooks, Refco’s curator prior to bankruptcy.
Vik Muniz’s “Action Photo III” is a photograph of an iconic image of Jackson Pollack that Muniz reproduced with chocolate syrup.
“This has nothing to do with reportage or a street photo,” Brooks said. The work is expected to sell for somewhere between US$20,000 and US$30,000.
Many of the works in the collection have been digitally manipulated. Andreas Gursky’s Avenue of the Americas, estimated to be worth US$250,000 to US$350,000 likely fits into that category, although Gursky does not comment about the extent to which he’s altered specific images, Brooks said.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Drain approved the sale of the photographs on Tuesday.
