Christie's to Sell Agnes Gund Collection, Led by $8M Vija Celmins Ocean Painting

Christie's will sell a group of works from the collection of the late philanthropist and collector Agnes Gund during its November auctions in New York. Proceeds will benefit the Gund Art Foundation.

The sale is led by Vija Celmins's 1990 painting Untitled (Ocean), a photorealistic rendering of the ocean's surface estimated at $6 million to $8 million. It will appear in Christie's 21st Century Evening Sale on November 19.

What else is on the block?

The group spans several major names of post-war and contemporary American art. The highlights include:

• Vija Celmins, Untitled (Ocean) (1990) — estimate $6 million to $8 million, 21st Century Evening Sale, November 19
• Alexander Calder, the 1963 mobile The Eye in the Black — estimate $3 million to $5 million
• Cy Twombly, an untitled bronze sculpture from 1997 — estimate $2 million to $3 million
• Robert Ryman, a 1961 painting — estimate $1.5 million to $2 million
• Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled (Gold Painting) (1953) — estimate $1 million to $1.5 million

The collection also holds works by Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Cindy Sherman, Robert Ryman, Cecily Brown, Glenn Ligon, and Sarah Sze.

Christie's will distribute the works across the November 19 evening sale, the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on November 20, and several online auctions.

Who was Agnes Gund?

Gund served as president of the Museum of Modern Art from 1991 to 2002. She ranked among the most influential collectors and philanthropists in American art. She donated more than 800 works to MoMA over her lifetime.

In 1977, she founded Studio in a School, a program that brings professional artists into public school classrooms.

Her most famous transaction came in 2017, when she sold Roy Lichtenstein's Masterpiece to Steve Cohen for $165 million. She used $100 million of the proceeds to establish the Art for Justice Fund, which supports criminal justice reform.

Sara Friedlander, Christie's chairman of post-war and contemporary art, addressed the collector's legacy in a statement. "Aggie lived with the deep-seated belief that art has the ability to create positive change in the world," Friedlander said.

What does this change for the November auctions?

The Gund consignment gives Christie's a marquee, provenance-rich anchor for its November marquee week in New York. Estates and named collections consistently draw premiums at auction, and the charitable destination of the proceeds adds a philanthropic frame to the sales. The results on November 19 and 20 will offer an early test of market appetite for museum-grade post-war material in the current season.