Some of the storied art collection of late Condé Nast publisher SI Newhouse has gone on display for the first time as it’s readied for auction.
On Friday, more than $150 million worth of Newhouse’s pieces were unveiled at Christie’s at Rockefeller Center, including Jeff Koons’ “Rabbit” (a 1986 work in stainless steel said to be worth between $50 million and $70 million), Paul Cézanne’s “Bouilloire et Fruits” (which is estimated to sell in the neighborhood of $40 million) and Vincent van Gogh’s “Arbres Dans Le Jardin de L’Asile” (estimated to be worth $25 million).
Other pieces include Andy Warhol’s “Little Electric Chair” — estimated to sell in the $6-million-to-$8-million range — from the Factory artist’s “Death and Disaster” series.
Newhouse died in 2017.
His art is going under the hammer as part of Christie’s 20th Century Week Auctions.
At the unveiling, Newhouse family art adviser Tobias Meyer said: “SI was intensely curious. He read, he looked, he learned, and he was happy to see new things. He was also happy and comfortable in the presence of greatness . . . whatever that greatness was: architecture, writing or painting.”