Prominent Dallas Art Collector to Auction Artwork
May 7, 2008
Dallas, Texas (WiredPRNews.com) — Art enthusiasts and collectors will be delighted to learn that one of Dallas’ most prominent and high-profile collections will be auctioned off in May at Sotheby’s in New York. Over 200 works of art by such legends as Picasso and Roy Lichtenstein will go up on the block fetching millions of dollars a piece. The art masterpieces are projected to bring in a total of more than $30 million, with Pablo Picasso’s The Kiss estimated to fetch $10 million to $15 million on its own.
The renowned Dallas art collector duo of Patsy and Raymond Nasher spent the majority of their married lives together collecting a total of over 1,000 works of contemporary and modern art with a primary focus on sculpture. The auction is planned almost a dear after Raymond Nasher’s passing at the ripe age of 85. His wife, Patsy, died at the age of 58 in 1988. As a team, the couple created quite a legacy of art appreciation.
In honor of the Dallas art collectors, downtown Dallas became the home of the Nasher Sculpture Center in 2003. According to the Associated Press, “before his death, Nasher had started discussing selling some works in his collection that weren’t central to the center’s focus to create an endowment for its future.”
Jordan, an art historian and member of the board of directors of the Nasher Foundation and the Nasher Sculpture Center had bittersweet sentiments regarding the selection of the artwork that would go to auction. “It was very hard. Sometimes it was a very painful decision in fact. We couldn’t have reached the sums that we wanted to reach if we didn’t sacrifice some very valuable things.”
Some of the pieces going up for auction include Lichtenstein’s Yellow Apple, Jean Tinguely’s early outdoor water sculpture Cowboy in the Rain, prints from Jasper Johns and sculptures by artists including Henri Matisse.
In addition to art, Dallas has another form of art by Raymond Nasher in the form of an upscale shopping mall. “In 1965, Nasher created NorthPark Center, a high-end mall in Dallas that features art among the stores.”
Dallas Local Reporter
