Monet to Sargent Masterworks Among Treasures to be Sold From Clark Estate
- February 03, 2014 10:12
Christie's revealed some of the highlights in sales this spring of works from the estate of copper heiress Huguette Clark (1906-2011). Four masterworks by Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir will be offered in the Evening Sale of Impressionist & Modern Art at Christie’s New York on May 6, followed by a dedicated sale titled An American Dynasty: The Clark Family Treasures on June 18.
Monet's Nympheas, a masterpiece from his Water Lilies series, was purchased by Huguette Clark in 1930 from the New York branch of Durand-Ruel Galleries, the legendary Paris firm. It is estimated to bring between $25 million and $35 million. The work has not been shown to the public since 1926.
A portrait, a still-life and a figural landscape will represent the three top-notch examples by Pierre-Auguste Renoir to be offered. Estimates range from $3 million to $15 million.
Leading the American art offerings is John Singer Sargent’s Girl Fishing at San Vigilio (estimate: $3,000,000-5,000,000). William Merritt Chase's A Water Fountain in Prospect Park (estimate: $700,000-1,000,000) was painted in Brooklyn, New York in 1886.
Gilded Age furnishings, musical instruments, and more will be offered in the second sale in June. Nearly 400 items have come from Huguette Clark's collections and that of her father, William Andrews (W.A.) Clark (1839-1925) who built a successful personal empire in multiple industries, most notably copper mining. His vast wealth allowed him to pursue a lifelong passion for art and culture that he shared with his wife and daughters, who expanded the family collection over the decades.
The total collection is expected to realize in excess of $50 million and is earmarked in a settlement to benefit heirs of Clark, including art institutions and distant relatives. Her summer estate, Bellosguardo in Santa Barbara, will be a beneficiary of the sales. The artworks being sold would have made a fitting start to the fledgling art institution that Clark stipulated should be founded in her coastal home (unoccupied since the 1960s).
Clark left a $300 million estate when she died in 2011, and a battle over her conflicting wills ensued.
Highlights from the Estate of Huguette Clark are on a worldwide tour prior to the sale, starting with London through Feb. 4.
