This Autumn, Christie’s New York is launching a landmark series of auctions with two exclusive single-owner sales. The first takes place on the evening of November 19th, followed by a second on the morning of November 20th. Designer, philanthropist, collector, Mica Ertegun epitomised style and sophistication for a generation and beyond.
The auctions will continue with prestigious Jewelry, Design, and Decorative Arts sales on December 10th and 13th in New York and Paris. Spanning an exceptional range of art and objects, this series masterfully unites various categories, mediums, and historical periods. The opening sales will showcase premier works of Surrealism alongside rare examples of Russian and Ukrainian Modernism, Purism, de Stijl, and Color Field painting, cementing Christie’s as a leader in the global art market.
The offerings range from seminal Surrealist work to interiors, which, with their Chekhovian echoes, were the laboratory for her life as a designer and hostess. The Collection of Mica Ertegun exemplifies Mrs. Ertegun’s sensitivity, elegance and multicultural heritage. Acquired over half a century ago, the offerings are a part of Mrs Ertegun’s collections in Manhattan, Southampton and Paris. A significant portion of the seller’s sale proceeds is intended to benefit philanthropic initiatives. During her life, Mrs Ertegun generously supported the Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities at Oxford University, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the World Monument Fund and more.
Marc Porter, Chairman of Christie’s Americas, remarks, “We are grateful to be the stewards of the collection of Mica Ertegun, whose life and legacy is an inspiration. Mrs. Ertegun was a devoted patron of the arts and education worldwide. With these sales, we pay tribute to Mrs. Ertegun and the Ertegun legacy of sharing.”
Among the collection’s leading highlights is the spectacular and exceedingly rare L’empire des lumières by René Magritte (estimate on request: in excess of $95 million). The work depicts a paradoxical Surrealist scene in which day and night are simultaneous occurrences.
Christie’s Vice Chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art, Max Carter, remarks, “Mica Ertegun was the epitome of style. Everything in her home, from the masterpieces to the functional objects, was exquisite and personal. Her generous embrace of other cultures is reflected in the collection’s range, with Russian and Ukrainian Modernism hanging side-by-side with Ruscha, Hockney, and Miró, and the best of Surrealism with de Stijl, Purism and Color Field. But of all the works she lived with, Magritte’s L’empire des lumières most nearly captures her aesthetic philosophy in its balance and restraint. An icon of Surrealism, the Ertegun Magritte is arguably the finest, most deftly rendered and hauntingly beautiful of the series. Like Mica’s eye, it is perfect.”
Ioana Maria Banu Ertegun, known as “Mica,” was born in 1926, the only child of a prominent Romanian family. In 1948, the Communist takeover forced Mica from her native country to Switzerland; she later moved to Paris, then Canada, where she and her first husband settled and worked on their chicken farm on Lake Ontario. In 1958, Mica travelled to New York to meet with the Turkish ambassador in the hope that he could help extricate her father from Romania. There, she met her future husband, Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records. The couple married in 1961 and established their life in New York in their historic Manhattan residence. Here, they regularly hosted events attended by figures from across the globe, crosspollinating worlds of art, music, fashion and media. Mrs. Ertegun built her legacy as a style judge for the next sixty years. 1967, she founded the highly successful design business MAC II alongside Vogue contributor Chessy Rayner. For decades, the two envisioned and executed the interior design for the world’s most tasteful and enlightened figures. Mrs. Ertegun and MAC II have been recognized among the AD100, the highly esteemed list of designers and architects. Deeply generous, Mrs. Ertegun understood the importance of sharing with the global community. Her contributions to organizations in the realms of art, music, education, and religion were innumerable, ranging from efforts to preserve heritage sites, including Brancusi’s Endless Column in Romania and the Edicule of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to the establishment in perpetuity of the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities at Oxford University.