Ai Weiwei’s iconic series of sculptures, the Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads recreates the twelve traditional Chinese zodiac sculptures that once adorned the Yuanming Yuan fountain clock, an architectural centerpiece of the imperial gardens outside of Beijing in the 18th and 19th centuries. The original sculptures were looted by French and British soldiers during the Opium Wars. Only seven of the original heads still exist and the whereabouts of five remain unknown. By creating his interpretation of the original imperial zodiac heads with the ‘Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads’ sculptures, Ai Weiwei reunites the twelve animals once again, completing the full set by re-envisioning the five that are still missing.

WORKS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

Works on offer from the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation & Family Collections were 100% sold, totaling $593,750. The group was led by Helen Frankenthaler’s Lighthouse Series II from 1999, selling for $187,500 – more than 3x its $60,000 high estimate.  Amassed over a period of more than 50 years and spanning time periods and continents, The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation and Family Collections are a testament to Louis-Dreyfus’s aesthetic intuition, curiosity and passion for collecting on a personal level. The Foundation Collection alone contains more than 3,500 works of art and is housed in a museum-quality space in Mount Kisco, New York.

Today’s sale featured a selection of property from the collection of renowned fashion designer Marc Jacobs.  Leading the group was the large-scale work Etruscan Paella by Urs Fischer, which achieved $764,000. With a discerning eye and fastidious taste for exceptional quality, Jacobs has spent the past two decades building an extensive collection of contemporary art with a particular focus on figuration. The 20+ works on offer in today’s auction were acquired by Jacobs for his four-story townhouse in Manhattan’s West Village, which he is now selling after purchasing a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Rye, New York.

The sale series continues this December when Jacobs’s collection of important design will be presented in the dedicated auction, Marc Jacobs: A Life of Design on 12 December 2019 in New York. In addition, Sotheby’s will hold a dedicated online-only sale of design works from Jacobs’s Paris apartment, open for bidding on sothebys.com from 4 – 13 December.

10150 contemporary art day auction