Peggy And David’s Rockefeller’s $500 Million Art Collections Comes to N.Y.

One of the most significant philanthropic art auctions in history is making its way to New York.  From April 28-May 11, Peggy and David Rockefeller‘s $500 million, 2,000+ artwork collection will be offered for sale at Christie’s.

The collection sale will be the most significant philanthropic auction ever presented, with all estate sale proceeds destined to benefit selected charities. The highlights include masterpieces of Impressionist and Modern Art, including a Rose Period Picasso selected by Peggy and David Rockefeller from Gertrude Stein’s collection (estimate on request) ,Claude Monet’s Nymphéas enfleur, painted circa 1914-1917 and a sumptuous 1923 reclining nude by Matisse that is poised to reset the artist’s record high price at auction.

Christie’s first unveiled highlights from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller in Hong Kong on November 24-27, which marked the start of a global tour of collection highlights presented by private aviation company VistaJet. Gathered over a lifetime and inherited from previous generations, the collection reflects the Rockefeller family’s deep, life-long passion for Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Modern works of art, American paintings, English and European furniture, Asian works of art, European ceramics and Chinese export porcelain, silver, and American decorative arts and furniture, among other categories.The London exhibition featured significant works by Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Juan Gris, Paul Signac, Edouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Edward Hopper, among others.

The online sales, which will run concurrently with the live auctions, will offer a selection of accessibly priced objects with estimates starting at $200. Reflecting motifs that run throughout the collection, the online sales will be themed to include Dining; Birds; Bugs and Beasts; Japan; Porcelain: Figurines and Serviceware; At Home: Town; At Home: Country and Jewels. The sales will be conducted in keeping with David Rockefeller’s pledge to direct the majority of his wealth to philanthropy and provide for the  cultural, educational, medical, and environmental causes long supported by both David and Peggy Rockefeller. All the Estate proceeds will be donated to Peggy and David Rockefeller’s charities of choice, directly benefiting the philanthropic missions that have been maintained by the family.