The second installment of an auction of works of art and furniture belonging to Ann and Gordon Getty will take place on June 14 at Christie’s New York, following a blockbuster first installment last October.
The sale features artwork and artifacts from the Getty family’s magnificent Temple of Wings home in Berkeley, California. The opulent Greco-Roman style estate was originally built for dancer and patron Florence Treadwell Boynton in 1910 by Bernard Maybeck. The architect, who practiced in the Arts and Crafts style, was inspired by the work of ancient Greek architect Ictinus, who co-designed the Parthenon.
A view of the Blue Lounge in the Temple of Wings. Courtesy of Christie’s. © Lisa Romerein/OTTO.
Temple of Wings was acquired by the Gettys in 1994 and under the direction of Ann Getty the house was furnished with decorative arts and furniture based on the eclecticism of late 19th and early 20th century design century in Europe and America. “Ann Getty fell in love with the atmosphere of Temple of Wings,” Jonathan Rendell, vice president of Christie’s Americas, told Artnet News. “It was a magical place.”
“His vision for the house was very different from the one used for the main house in San Francisco,” he added. “She brought together groups focusing on arts and crafts, classical revival, Tiffany studios, and art pottery, as well as related textiles and paintings.”
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, A Coign of Vantage (1895). Courtesy of Christie’s.
Among the highlights of the collection is the painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema A Coign of Vantage (1895), in which three young women and a bronze sphinx gaze out over the Bay of Naples from a marble perch – an idealized vision of ancient Rome. It is considered one of the finest works by the popular Victorian artist, anchoring the Temple of Wings collection. The piece is estimated between 2.5 and 3.5 million dollars.
Tiffany studios, wisteria table lamp (circa 1903). Courtesy of Christie’s.
The sale includes an extensive range of Tiffany Studios glassware such as the wisteria table lamp ($400,000 to $600,000) and the Butterfly table lamp ($300,000 to $500,000) – iconic examples of the American Art Nouveau style. Victorian Gothic Revival furniture also features prominently in the sale, including an oak reading desk purchased at the 1951 Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace.
Ann Getty’s love of textiles is evident in several rugs that appear for sale, especially the hand-knotted rugs. Black-smith rug ($70,000 to $100,000) by designer and poet William Morris, one of the most important members of the British Arts and Crafts movement.
William Morris, Black-smith carpet (circa 1890). Courtesy of Christie’s.
Before her death in 2020, Ann Getty was a major philanthropist and patron of the arts who served on the boards of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York University and the New York Public Library. She has also contributed to institutions such as the University of California at Berkeley, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera. Before marrying Gordon Getty in 1964, she was a paleoanthropologist and member of the Leakey Foundation who worked on archaeological digs in Turkey and Ethiopia.
Gordon Getty, the son of oil magnate J. Paul Getty, whose trust helped establish the Getty Center in Santa Monica, remains a patron of the arts as well as a composer of classical music. The Getty collection of 1,500 works of art, furniture, jewelry and textiles has brought in more than 79 million dollars in the first part from the sale last year, with proceeds going to the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation for the Arts. Proceeds from the second edition of the auction will benefit arts and science organizations selected by the Getty family.
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