The Legendary Collection Of A. Alfred Taubman

Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Paulette Jourdain, 1919,
Estimate $25,000,000–35,000,000.

Legendary collector, philanthropist and businessman A. Alfred Taubman’s sprawling Modernist residence in Bloomfield Hills – designed by Alden B. Dow, a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright – anchored his family life in Michigan. It also became a showcase for a staggering array of great art, much of which will be offered at the first two sales at Sotheby’s dedicated to The Collection of A. Alfred Taubman: Masterworks, on 4 November, and Modern & Contemporary Art, on 5 November.

Over the course of 70 years, A. Alfred Taubman worked quietly and assiduously to assemble one of the greatest collections of art in private hands. Yet, for a man who lived much of his life in the glare of the public spotlight, remarkably little was known about the vast and diverse trove of masterpieces that hung throughout his homes and offices for decades. Having trained as an architect, Mr. Taubman’s keen aesthetic eye is evident throughout the collection.

Pablo Picasso’s “Femme Assise sur une Chaise,” 1938, is
estimated to sell for $25 million to $35 million.
Credit 2015 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS),
New York, via Sotheby’s.

From 2-5 October, select masterpieces by iconic Old Master, Impressionist, Modern, Contemporary and American artists will be on view at the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre. From 10-15 October, masterworks from the collection will be exhibited at Sotheby’s London galleries. These viewings culminate in a dedicated exhibition from 24-27 October at Sotheby’s New York headquarters – a building conceived by Mr. Taubman to bring his vision for the art market to life.

George Wachter, Chairman Sotheby’s Americas, commented: “Our global exhibitions this October will begin to reveal the treasures that Alfred Taubman thoughtfully acquired over decades, offering a window into his remarkable life. The depth and diversity of Mr. Taubman’s collection are staggering, with works spanning every period, genre and medium of creative output — from the monumental, 3,000-year-old depiction of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet and Tang Dynasty figure of a court lady, to superlative examples by a striking list of the most celebrated figures in Western art: Raphael and Dürer, Degas and Matisse, O’Keeffe and Sargent, Rothko and Bacon, to name a very few. Mr. Taubman’s passion for great works of art had no restrictions, and thus both established and new collectors will have the rare opportunity to experience and acquire works that reflect his connoisseurship at all price points.”

www.sothebys.com

Mark Rothko’s No. 6/Sienna, Orange on Wine shares a wall with Franz Kline’s Elizabeth, Photography © Steven Brooke Studios.

Across the table, Jackson Pollock’s Black and White Painting III meets Clyfford Still’s PH-218, Photography © Steven Brooke Studios.

Man With Arm Raised, a 1960 oil by Francis Bacon, shares a corner with drawings by Old Masters and Modernists, Photography © Steven Brooke Studios.

In the entryway, visitors are greeted by a trio of postwar American paintings: Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Lavender and Green), Jasper Johns’ Disappearance I and Roy Lichtenstein’s Female Figure, Photography © Steven Brooke Studios.

Taubman, a trained architect, made several changes to the house to make it more hospitable to the large-scale works he was acquiring. He expanded the common areas and introduced skylights so there was natural light. Unusual for a collector of his magnitude, Taubman was his own curator and arranged the art in his home, often mixing works from different periods and styles. In the living room, a Calder mobile hangs above paintings by a diverse array of artsits, including Picasso, Degas, De Kooning and Balla, Photography © Steven Brooke Studios.