Macklowe Collection

Article by Robert Rizzo

05.15.2022

In November of 2021, the Macklowe Collection recorded one of the most extraordinary auctions known to date, with an estimated $676.1 million totaled in 35 of the collection’s items. The breathtaking art is set to make its historic return at Sotheby’s New York this Monday evening. You would think you missed out on the exciting auction; however, we have been revealed to a little more than half of the remarkable set. The Macklowe Collection contains approximately 65 works. On Monday, May 16th at Sotheby’s New York, we will be presented to the remaining 30 pieces within the celebrated collection.

“The extraordinary results we saw in November speak both to the exceptional caliber of the collection as well as to the boundless appetite that exists today in what is undoubtedly a deep market for masterpieces.” – Mari-Claudia Jimenez, Sotheby’s Chairman, Managing Director & Worldwide Head of Business Development for Global Fine Art.

The highly anticipated auction will begin Monday evening at 7pm, one that contains the purest artwork created by the most well-known artists from across the world. The works of Andy Warhol, Sigmar Polke and Jeff Koons are just a few of the many notorious artists within the Macklowe Collection. The craftsmanship and delicacy of each and every masterpiece in this magnificent collection is a sight to see.

Mark Rothko, Untitled

1960

Estimate: $35-50 million

(Image Credit: Sotheby’s New York/Macklowe Collection)

Eleanaor Nairne, Artist Director and Curator at the Barbican Art Gallery, provided us with an inside glimpse into what’s to come next week in the stunning culmination. She has previously worked with artists, Francis Alÿs, Yael Bartana along with Jeremy Deller. Nairne was a major component in curating past exhibitions such as, Lee Krasner: Living Colour in 2019 and Basquiat: Boom for Real in 2017.

Nairne stated “It’s a pretty extraordinary experience. The Macklowe Collection is obviously one of the finest examples of postmodern art in America and this is an opportunity for us to see these rare examples of work by Polke, Richter, Warhol, Debuffet, and the Rothko, which has never been exhibited before. It feels like quite a moment.” Provided below is an in depth observation and historical background on three of the thirty works set out for auction this Monday evening at Sotheby’s New York.

Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait

1986

Estimate: $15-20 million

(Image Credit: Sotheby’s New York/Macklowe Collection)

Self-Portrait displays a sense of expressing your inner self, especially in regards to the various colors throughout Warhols facial recognition. The desperate confusion as well as genuine happiness with every feeling in between can be felt in Warhols masterpiece. This was Warhol’s final piece of work, completed just nine months before his passing in February of 1987. Nairne went into depth on the camouflage features in Self-Portrait: “The camouflage is fascinating because of course, we think of Warhol as a man who’s all about persona. So, all about that sense of the interior and the exterior self, the ideas of celebrity, whether we can get to know the true Jackie.

Camouflage is designed to conceal us from enemy combat. So who exactly is he trying to protect himself from within this image?” Screen printing with pop art is the soul foundation of Warhol’s legacy. The creativity in Self-Portrait correlates with several of Warhol’s other works, such as Marilyn Diptych (1962) and Nine Jackies (1964).

The camouflage aspect makes me believe that Warhol was attempting to tell his audience that there are countless amounts of emotions we tend to feel throughout our lifetime. The matter is, how will you overcome the actions and events that make you feel those specific emotions. In other words, how will you face the daily burdens and sudden life obstacles? Regardless of the artist being Andy Warhol, I believe the Self Portrait will be a trending topic throughout the auction because of its uniqueness and sense of self-emotion.

You tend to create an image from multiple perspectives the more you examine Warhols, Self-Portrait. Nairne explained the creativity and decision making of the notorious artist, “It really relates to Warhols interest in the still life, the idea that all life is fleeting, the sense that we are but moral beings. These were all ideas that he was playing with within his body of self-portraits, which were begun in 1964 and continued right throughout the rest of his career.”

Jeff Koons, New Hoover Convertibles,
New Shelton Wet/Dry 10 Gallon Doubledecker

1981-1986

Estimate: $3.5-4.5 million

(Image Credit: Sotheby’s New York/Macklowe Collection
Artist Jeff Koons has made a major impact on where modern art stands today in his sculptures exhibiting balloon animals materialized in stainless steel as well as daily life items such as what you see above in New Hoover Convertibles, New Shelton Wet/Dry 10 Gallon Doubledecker. The originality in Koons depiction recognizes the functions in our everyday lives pertaining to purity and flashy items. Fresh out of college in 1977, the young artist began to make a name for himself with his talents in expressing modern art in vacuum cleaners and inflatable flowers. In 1980, at the age of 24-25, Koons presented his “early works” at the New Museum located in New York. His goal was to conceptualize items used in daily tasks of life, a significant one: cleanliness. The result was Koons artwork being displayed in the most well-known art galleries across the world.
 
While examining New Hoover Convertibles, New Shelton Wet/Dry 10 Gallon Doubledecker, you tend to recognize the delicacy and shininess in fancy old-fashioned vacuum cleaners. This concept demonstrates the inner characteristics of freshness, neatness, and remaining sharp; characteristics our society consistently obsesses over.
 
In this piece, Koons presents the irony of three vacuum cleaners being sealed shut in a glass container. This makes for the vacuum cleaners not being used for its daily task, which is obviously to purify houses and keep dirt+dust away. To add to this treasure, the items contain that lovely shine and are spotless to the point of perfection.

Sigmar Polke, Plastic-Wannen (Plastic Tubs)

1964

Estimate: $3.5-4.5 Million

(Image Credit: Sotheby’s New York/Macklowe Collection)

Plastic-Wannen (Plastic Tubs), designed by Sigmar Polke demonstrates an authentic form of revealing his own background and upbringing. The legendary painter and photographer was born in 1941 during the midst of World War II. At an early age, Polke along with his family fled from Eastern Germany to the West in hopes of escaping the Communist regime. His childhood was surrounded by thoughts of scarcity. “You know, this is an artist who fled from East Germany when he was twelve, and who would have experienced very much first hand the reality of scarcity during that period in post-war Germany.” He includes the traditional layers in this canvas with generic objects such as the washing and cleaning elements. This incline in Polkes work creates an underlying story from his past experiences during his upbringing.

The German painter completed the astonishing canvas at the young age of twenty-three. Nairne discussed Polkes interpretations in Plastic-Wannen (Plastic Tubs): “It’s hard to know quite how he wants us to interpret this, whether it’s about the idea of desire and a space between aloure of objects and how they’re presented in glossy magazines in this period in the early 1960’sand actual reality in postwar Germany.”

“So you really have that sense of the contrast between these two areas of the canvas and that sense of how they reflect a contrast in life,” Nairne said about aspects of Polkes precision and choices of the “pop” type of colors. Polkes decision making in the colors results in the alluring effect and contains that trend-setter, gravitational feel. With that being said, the life background of Polke is on full display within Plastic-Wannen (Plastic Tubs).

To see more of what’s to come in the Macklowe Collection, check out the in depth video with Artistic
Directors, Will Gompertz and Eleanor Nairne presented on the Sotheby’s website. A link to the video
is provided below:

LINK TO VIDEO: https://www.sothebys.com/en/series/the-macklowe-collection-announcement

Gerhard Richter, Seestuck (Seascape)

1975.

Estimate: $25-35 million

(Image Credit: Sotheby’s New York/Macklowe Collection)