The art dealer Daniella Luxembourg will sell 15 works worth more than $30m from her personal collection in Sotheby’s contemporary art evening sale in New York next month.
The group, from Luxembourg’s New York townhouse, mainly comprises works by post-war Italian artists such as Lucio Fontana, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Salvatore Scarpitta and Alberto Burri, with sculptures by the American artists Alexander Calder and Claes Oldenburg also featuring.
Sotheby’s has dubbed the collection Im Spazio: The Space of Thoughts, a nod to Germano Celant’s famed 1967 Arte Povera exhibition, and the uniting theme is of disruption of the picture surface—all of the works have been pulled, torn or punctured by the artist.
“We got a call saying Daniella was considering selling about 15 works from her collection—which is much larger—from her New York townhouse,” Lisa Dennison, the chairman of Sotheby’s Americas, tells The Art Newspaper. “She decided, as many people do in life, that it’s time to take stock, to go in different direction. Daniella, of course, being an art dealer is used to works leaving to find a new home, so she thought this was a good moment to take stock, rehang and even bring new things into her collection.”
Claes Oldenburg’s Soft Light Switches (est. $1m-$1.5m)
Courtesy of Sotheby’s
“I was never drawn to a single movement or name, but rather to works that spoke to me viscerally—pieces with energy, tension, and stories waiting to be unravelled,” Luxembourg says in a statement. “These artists were carrying the flag of Modernism in a different way, by reinventing a new vocabulary.”
Almost all of the works in the collection were bought at auction around 20 years ago, in the early to mid-2000s. Luxembourg, Dennison says, has always had “trailblazing foresight”. If she wanted something, “she would relentlessly pursue it”, Dennison says, sometimes to record prices, as with Salvatore Scarpitta’s Helikon (1959), bought for €185,600 (with fees) at Sotheby’s Paris in 2005, from the Liliane et Michel Durand-Dessert Collection, and Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Maria Nuda (1967) bought at Christie’s London in 2005 for £366,400 (with fees).
The Scarpitta is now estimated at $800,000 to $1.2m and the Pistoletto, $1m to $1.5m.
“Each of these works, in my opinion, represents the best of the artist at a particular moment in their career,” Luxembourg tells The Art Newspaper. “I’ve always aimed to collect pieces that capture the essence of the artist at their best.”
She declines to choose a favourite but says: “Perhaps the most monumental is the Fine di Dio [1963] by Fontana—not only because it powerfully reflects his materiality, but also due to the specific way in which he cut the canvas. The addition of diamond dust gives a three-dimensionality to the surface.” The oil and glitter on canvas, which measures a substantial 178cm by 123cm, is expected to be the top lot of the sale, pitched at $12m to $18m.
Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Maria Nuda
Courtesy of Sotheby’s
“Another work I hold very dear is Luciano Fabro’s Sullo Stato [1970],” Luxembourg says. “It speaks about Italy’s Anni di Piombo [Years of Lead], a deeply important and complex time in Italian history. Understanding that context brings a whole new depth to the piece, making it not just a visual experience but also a historical one.” The three-dimensional piece, made from wood, roadmap and lead, is estimated at $700,000 to $1m.
The collection has been guaranteed by Sotheby’s, though “there will be third party participation”, Dennison says, as some of those guarantees are offset.
Intense uncertainty around the ever-changing situation around US tariffs makes for a hostile environment in which to be consigning the major May sales in New York. And yet, Dennison says, “what’s interesting is Daniella is choosing to sell now. I think she feels confident in the material, in our estimates and in the guarantees. So, there is some discretionary selling, and with a guarantee you’re protected on your downside.”
Another major dealer’s collection expected to be sold in New York next month is that of the late dealer Barbara Gladstone, who died last year at the age of 89. At the time of writing, it is still being competed by both Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Both declined to comment at this moment.
