Sotheby's Wins Right to Auction $500M Taubman Collection

» Get Patch’s daily newsletter and real-time news alerts.

Philanthropist and shopping mall magnate A. Alfred Taubman’s legendary art collection will be sold at four auctions beginning Nov. 4, Sotheby’s announced Thursday.

The 500-plus works collection is valued in excess of $500 million.

The news was disappointing to supporters of the Detroit Institute of Arts, where the self-made billionaire developer served as a board member for years, The Detroit News reports. They had hoped the deep and varied collection would be donated to the museum, which Taubman generously supported.

“I’m not surprised – I knew this was coming,” Ruth Rattner, an art consultant and chair of the museum’s European painting auxiliary council, told The Detroit News. “But I’m so sorry the collection’s not going to the DIA. I just wish that some of the great local collections would remain in Detroit.”

In a news release, Sotheby’s called it “the most valuable private collection ever offered at auction.”

Some pieces are worth millions. Picasso’s 1938 painting, “Femme Assise sur une Chaise”; Amedeo Modigliani’s 1919 work, “Portrait of Paulette Jourdain”; and Willem de Kooning’s 1976 “Untitled XXI” could fetch between $25 million and $35 million each, according to Sotheby’s.

Taubman died in on April 17 at his home in Bloomfield Hills at the age of 91. The proceeds from the auction will go to settle estate taxes and fund the A. Alfred Taubman Foundation.

Christopher Tennyson, a spokesman for the Taubman estate, said:

“It was important to Mr. Taubman that the Taubman Foundation continue to be a source of support for the arts, education and medical research. His family is committed to continuing Mr. Taubman’s philanthropic tradition.”

Besides the DIA, Taubman showed his generosity to the University of Michigan, Lawrence Technological University and Wayne State University, and was a leader in bringing stem cell research to Michigan and fighting illnesses such as ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Born in Pontiac to Jewish immigrants who lost everything in the Depression of the 1930s, Taubman went to work at age 9 to support his family. He studied architecture at the University of Michigan and Lawrence Technological University, but never earned a college degree.

A pioneer in the development of regional malls, his Taubman Co. started with small stores and strip malls before eventually building and operating more than 25 regional malls. Some of the best-known mall developments in Metro Detroit include the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills and Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi.

It’s unclear whether the DIA will retain about a half-dozen works Taubman gave the museum on long-term loan.

Taubman was a one-time owner of Sotheby’s – and served 9 ½ months in prison after he was convicted of price-fixing with rival auction house Christie’s International Plc, which was locked in a months-long battle with Sotheby’s to auction the prized collection.

The New York Times called the win for Sotheby’s a “from-the-grave lift” by its one-time owner. Sotheby’s has been trailing Christie’s in sales volumes in recent years. The Times said winning the Taubman collection comes at a pivotal moment for the auction house.

The Taubman name is enough to command the attention of serious art collectors around the world, Rattner told The Detroit News.

“This will not be a small event,” she said.