NEW YORK – This May, Christie’s is honored to present Masterpieces from the S.I. Newhouse Collection. This single-owner Evening Sale will feature 16 exceptional modern and post-war paintings from the collection of S.I. Newhouse, one of the most celebrated, admired and influential art collectors of the 20th century. The selection includes masterworks by icons across generations, including Pablo Picasso, Willem de Kooning, Francis Bacon, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Brice Marden, and Lee Bontecou, among others.

Leading highlights include: Orestes, one of Willem de Kooning’s most important black-and-white paintings ever to appear at auction (Estimate on request; in excess of $25,000,000), Francis Bacon’s landmark1969 SelfPortrait (Estimate on request; in excess of $20,000,000), and L'Arlésienne by Pablo Picasso, executed in 1937 in the months between his completion of the works Guernica and La femme qui pleure (Estimate on request; in excess of $20,000,000). In total, the 16 masterpieces in the auction are expected to achieve more than $144,000,000.

Alex Rotter, Christie's Chairman, 20th and 21st Century Art, remarks, “S.I. Newhouse’s brilliance was undeniable and his art collecting held a rare quality of excellence. As a collector, he bought and sold with the deepest levels of consideration and intention—which over decades, led to the evolution of a singular collection. Last November, we saw with the Collection of Paul. G. Allen that the market for true masterpieces is as strong as ever. Building on this momentum, we could not be prouder to present this selection of masterpieces from the S.I. Newhouse Collection this May.”

Max Carter, Vice Chairman, 20th and 21st Century Art, remarks, “Between Bacon’s most beautiful self-portrait; Picasso’s greatest painting of Lee Miller—the photographer and model discovered, and rescued, by Condé Nast—the finest de Kooning black-and-white ever to appear at auction; Decoy, one of Johns’s profoundest works, last seen in the Ganz sale in 1997; and Lichtenstein’s rare triptych after Monet’s Rouen Cathedral, this auction is the ultimate opportunity for collectors of the best.”

S.I. Newhouse (1927-2017) ranks among the most revered connoisseur art collectors in modern history. He is credited with redefining the contemporary art market in the 1980s, with his acquisition of Jasper Johns’s False Start; in the 1990s, with his acquisition of Andy Warhol’s Orange Marilyn; and in the 2010s, with the 2019 sale of Jeff Koons’ 1986 sculpture Rabbit at Christie’s New York for $91,075,000, establishing the record price for work by any living artist. As the co-owner of a media empire that included Condé Nast, publisher of leading publications such as The New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Architectural Digest, as well as newspapers across America, Mr. Newhouse was a visionary cultural figure whose enduring impact continues to inform and inspire generations worldwide.