Sotheby’s
NEW YORK—This spring, Sotheby’s will hold a sale
of Pacifi c Art from the collection of Harry A. Franklin,
Beverly Hills, at its newly renovated New York headquarters
30
on May 13, 2019. Franklin was a pioneer in
his fi eld and was one of the fi rst to bring the arts of
Africa and Oceania to a new audience of West Coast
American collectors in the post-war period. Franklin’s
collection has a storied past with Sotheby’s, having
made auction history at Sotheby’s, New York, with the
record-breaking sale of his African collection in 1990.
That sale included the “Bangwa Queen,” the superb
statue from Cameroon famously photographed by
Man Ray, which sold for 3.4 million dollars, shattering
the world record for an African artwork and marking
the beginning of a new era of collecting in the category.
The Pacifi c collection has stayed in the Franklin
family since his death in the early 1980s and includes a
deep selection of sculpture from the island cultures of
Oceania, including works from New Zealand and the
Polynesian islands, and Melanesia, particularly Papua
New Guinea.
Also on May 13 Sotheby’s will present its annual
various-owners auction of the art of Africa, Oceania,
and the Americas, which will feature a diverse selection
of works from private collections in the United
States and Europe.
Highlights of the Franklin Collection will be shown
in Paris from April 8–10 and in New York May 2–12.
ABOVE: Sculpture.
Easter Island.
Wood, bone, obsidian.
Ex Alfred Flechtheim, Paris;
Pierre Loeb, Paris (included in the
1930 exhibition at the Galerie
du Théâtre Pigalle, Paris, 1930);
Helena Rubinstein, New York;
Harry A. Franklin, Beverly Hills.
To be offered at Sotheby’s, New
York, on May 13, 2019.
Estimate on request.
ABOVE: Mask.
Vanuatu.
Wood.
Ex Helena Rubinstein, New York;
Harry A. Franklin, Beverly Hills.
To be offered at Sotheby’s, New
York, on May 13, 2019.
Estimate on request.
Masterpieces at Christie’s
NEW YORK—On May 15, 2019, Christie’s will hold
its spring sale of African and Oceanic art at its Rockefeller
Center headquarters. As in previous years, it will
be a small but select group of masterpiece artworks
intended to complement (and be complemented by)
the auction house’s major offerings of Impressionist
and Modern art and of post-War contemporary art,
alongside which they will be displayed during the
sales’ combined preview. As we go to press, the content
of the collection has not yet been released, but
past years have featured a stimulating variety of remarkable
artworks with deep provenance, many of
which achieved record prices, often going to collections
that are not specialized in tribal art. We await the
publication of their catalog with considerable interest.
LEFT: Female nature spirit, asie usu, attributed to the
Rockefeller Master.
Baule, Côte d’Ivoire.
Wood. H: 50 cm.
Ex Galerie Lecorneur-Roudillon, Paris; Morris Pinto, Geneva and New York; Alain de
Monbrison, Paris; Michael Oliver, New York; Brian and Diane Leyden, New York;
private collection.
Bishop Museum, donated by Marc and Lynne Benioff.
Sold by Christie’s, New York, on May 12, 2016, for $2,405,000.