Jeff Koons Quietly Sells $100 Million Collection at Christie's

Jeff Koons is quietly selling roughly $100 million of his art collection at Christie's, The New York Times revealed, with nine paintings spanning 500 years heading to auction in New York in November.

The consignment includes Pablo Picasso's Le Baiser (1969), valued at about $40 million, alongside works by Edouard Manet and Dutch Golden Age painter Cornelis van Haarlem. The Times reported that two auction experts with inside knowledge disclosed the identity of the "distinguished private collector" behind the artworks. Koons did not comment.

The sale comes as Koons's market has cooled since 2019, when his stainless-steel rabbit sculpture sold for a career-peaking $91.1 million.

What does Damien Hirst's Barrie collaboration include?

The same morning brought fashion news from another market titan. Damien Hirst has announced a capsule collection with luxury cashmere brand Barrie, comprising 100 limited-edition pieces adorned with his signature dots and butterflies.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Hirst laid out his case for wearable art. "Anything done well is art," he said. Fashion "is art that you can wear."

Hirst contrasted his approach with institutional convention: "I come from a museum world where people go, 'don't touch it.' In the art world, we all believe that art is a sacred thing." Not so for Hirst, who has spent much of his career probing art's status as a commodity — most notably in The Currency project, which produced over a thousand versions of his signature spot paintings. He has also faced accusations of backdating formaldehyde artworks made by assistants.

Art made in a factory, or even as "merch," carries real value that should not be dismissed, Hirst argued. Of the clothing line, he said: "I really want to make sure that people wear this and don't put it into dusty storage."

Also in the news

• A suspect attempted and failed to rob the Musée Nissim de Camondo in Paris on Saturday night. An alarm system deterred the intruder, according to Paris police, who have launched an investigation. [Le Parisien]
• Luhring Augustine gallery is closing its Tribeca branch at 17 White Street, according to sources close to the gallery. The gallery's website still lists the space as open "by appointment," and the gallery has not confirmed its status to reporters. [Artnet News]
• Artist Florentina Holzinger opened the season at Berlin's Volksbühne theater by rappelling down its façade in the nude and scrubbing the building clean, to "make room for new ideas." [dpa]
• Sound-inspired Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui discussed his life, career and forthcoming project for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall — while revealing no details. [The Guardian]
• ARTnews examines what changing views of the Young British Artists, "a symptom of their moment," indicate about today's art world.

What are the Musée d'Orsay's new plans?

Annick Lemoine, the new president of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, told Le Monde she aims to make the museum's program "more female-focused." Her timing is deliberate: a major Mary Cassatt exhibition opens at the Musée d'Orsay this week, and Lemoine previously curated an Eva Gonzalès exhibition at the Petit Palais, the museum she left for the Orsay job in February.

The museum has acquired 530 works by women artists over the last 15 years, Lemoine noted. In 2028, she plans several initiatives centered on women artists at the museum and across France, including, she said, a "major social-history exhibition addressing the question of women in modernity."

"I would like us to become a museum of debate, a civic museum that, while being a place of delight, builds critical thinking, especially among young people," Lemoine said.

The November Christie's sale will test whether old-master and modern works can command premium prices in a softening market — and whether Koons, whose own prices have slid from their 2019 peak, timed his exit well.