Spectacular art collection to be auctioned for $ 600 million

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"Nine Marilyns" by Andy Warhol: part of the Macklowe collection to be auctioned

Photo: HANDOUT / AFP

The New York auction house Sotheby's has announced the sale of 65 works by contemporary artists such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko and Alberto Giacometti.

It is "the largest collection of modern and contemporary art that has ever been brought to market," said the head of the auction house.

The total value is therefore estimated at $ 600 million.

The works previously belonged to the New York real estate tycoon Harry Macklowe and his former wife Linda.

Their joint art collection was also the subject of their divorce dispute, which was partly fought out in public.

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Harry and Linda Macklowe have been fighting a public war of divorce for years

Photo: Nicholas Hunt / Getty Images

The couple had lived big-time in New York.

In 2008 Macklowe bought an entire floor of the then renovated and newly opened Plaza Hotel and had the nine apartments merged into one.

There he resided with his ex-wife.

Even after the divorce, Macklowe was not reluctant.

In 2019, he had a giant picture of his new wife posted on a skyscraper overlooking Central Park.

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Mural of Harry Macklowe and new wife

Photo: Christina Horsten / dpa

According to Sotheby's, "The Nose" by Giacometti and "N ° 7" by Rothko could each change hands for 70 million dollars.

Warhol's famous work "Nine Marilyns" was valued at $ 40 million to $ 60 million.

A wire and sheet metal sculpture by Picasso designed as a memorial to the tenth anniversary of the death of poet Guillaume Apollinaire in 1918 could fetch around $ 20 million.

The auctions are scheduled for November and May.

kae / AFP