Georgia O’Keeffe
Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1
Masterpiece by Georgia O’Keeffe to be sold at Sotheby’s Sotheby’s will offer ‘Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1’, one of the most iconic works by Georgia O’Keeffe ever to appear at auction, as the centerpiece of its American Art sale in New York on 20 November 2014.]]>
September 28, 2014, source: Sotheby’s
“Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1” is one of the mostwell-known examples of O’Keeffe’s celebrated flower paintings, which stand among the mostrecognizable images in both art history and popular culture. The painting is one of three works bythe American artist that are on offer from the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico,which are being sold to benefit its Acquisitions Fund.
“Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1” will be on viewin Los Angeles and Hong Kong, before returningto New York for exhibition in Sotheby’s YorkAvenue galleries beginning 15 November. Thework comes to auction with an estimate of$10/15 million, well in excess of the artist’sauction record. Also on offer from theMuseum’s collection and sold to benefit the Acquisitions Fund is “On the Old Santa Fe Road”,estimated at $2/3 million, and “Untitled (Skunk Cabbage)”, estimated at $500/750,000.
“This deaccession is part of the maturation of the Georgia O’Keeffe institution and aligns with ourfuture collecting strategy, coupled with planned giving and donations,” said Rob Kret, Director of theGeorgia O’Keeffe Museum. “This has been a thoughtful process that has unfolded over the course ofmore than a year, and the deaccession is fully supported by the donor of the three works and wasunanimously approved by the Georgia O’Keeffe board of directors. All of the income from this salewill be used for future acquisitions to support the growth of our dynamic, vibrant O’Keeffecollection.”
Cody Hartley, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, said: “Letting go ofthese pieces is a sacrifice, and we do not take this decision lightly. We are fortunate to have equallystrong examples of similar subjects, including the masterful ‘Bella Donna’, which bears a closeresemblance to ‘Jimson Weed’. Through this sale we have the opportunity to substantially fund anacquisitions endowment that will allow us to be competitive when pursuing iconic O’Keeffemasterworks. This sale will provide funding to strengthen and refine our collection, allowing us torepresent the full breadth of Georgia O’Keeffe’s artistic accomplishments.”
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Georgia O’Keeffe: “Spring” (from the ’50 great landscape paintings’ article by theartwolf.com
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