Adam Lindemann’s personal collection auctioned for $32 million
It’s not every day that Christie’s sells a Warhol painting, a Jeff Koons sculpture, a Ducati motorcycle, a Royère sofa and tribal art in one sale.
But it happened yesterday as part of a sale of works by collector Adam Lindemann, which brought in a total of 31.5 million dollars for 36 lots, all of which were sold (though one lot was withdrawn). The presale estimate was between $22 million and $34 million. (Final prices include surcharges, estimated prices do not.)
“I love mixing old and new,” Lindemann told Artnet News after the sale. “It was amazing to be able to use these pieces of art to tell a story about myself, my aesthetic, what I love and how I see the world of design, the world of art.”
Andy Warhol, The Little Electric Chair (1964). Image courtesy of Christie’s.
The highest price achieved at an auction titled “Adam: The Adam Lindemann Collection” was $5.5 million for Alexander Calder’s “Black Disc with Flags” mobile (1939), followed by the day’s haunting “Little Electric Chair” Warhol (1964). glo shade of pink, which sold for $4.5 million. Koons’ large, unforgettable sculpture of children with a pig, Entering into Commonality (1988), sold for $3.9 million.
A green “Ours Polar” sofa and a pair of Jean Royer armchairs (circa 1952) sold for $3.4 million, double the high estimate of $1.5 million.
Jeff Koons, Heralding the Commonplace (1988). Image courtesy of Christie’s.
“I was thrilled to see the record for the Royère sofa because to me this is the best sofa ever sold publicly,” he said, “even though it settled at $900,000 and I nearly had a heart attack.” (Of course, after this short pause, trading resumed.)
The work of women artists also figured prominently. An oval portrait painting by Karen Kilimnik, Evening Dinner of the 1700s (2000), sold for an average estimate of $107,000, while Jamian Giuliano-Villani’s Welcome to My Booth (2019) sold for $75,600, well above the high estimate. estimates of $60,000.
Karen Kilimnik, Dinner of the 1700s (2000). Image courtesy of the artist.
Lindemann, who promised the Metropolitan Museum of Art a seven-figure gift from the proceeds, stressed that he did not include any of the artists from his own Venus Over Manhattan gallery list.
A painting by in-demand Chicago imagist Jim Nutt titled “Plume” sold for $478,800, well above its high estimate of $200,000. And Damien Hirst’s “Sleep of Reason” medicine cabinet filled with pills sold for $2.2 million (estimate: $1.5 million to $2.5 million).
“It was a good way to tell the story and move on,” Lindemann said. “I did the repair the next day. I love collecting and I love this action.”
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