After collecting objects of Jewish history and culture for the last three decades, philanthropist and former Wall Street money manager Michael Steinhardt has decided to sell his more than 500-piece collection at auction.
“This is an incredibly exciting event in the field of Jewish art. I’ve been immersed in the world of Jewish material culture for the last two decades and a collection of this scope and scale and quality has not come on the market in half a century,” Elka Deitsch, senior curator of the Judaica collection and museum at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, told the Associated Press.
The collection contains modern and antique items from all around the world. Among the highlights is a Torah from the 15th century with an estimated value of $4.5 million to $6 million. Sotheby’s will auction the items, which includes a trove of manuscripts, textiles and art, in New York on April 29 after exhibiting it in Moscow and Jerusalem and offering special presentations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil and several European and U.S. cities.
