Erving and Joy Wolf’s American art collection soars to $39 million at Sotheby’s and sets record for Frank Lloyd Wright

On Wednesday, bidding wars erupted at Sotheby’s New York’s “The Spirit of America” ​​sale, featuring works from the collection of the late oil tycoon Erving Wolf and his wife Joy. Not a single lot remained unsold, and in the end the sale exceeded its high estimate by 160% to reach $39 million.

During their lifetime, the Wolfs amassed one of the most significant collections of American art and design in history, ranging from rare colonial furniture to designer objects by some of the most iconic modernists of the 20th century.

The sale was led by 19th-century Massachusetts painter Fitz Henry Lane Bar Island and Mount Desert Mountains from Somes Rules with a final sale price of $6.1 million (all prices listed include buyer’s premium), a figure that quadrupled the lot’s high estimate. The work is based on Lane’s impression of the Maine coastal landscape on a summer cruise in 1850.

A new record was set for quintessential American architect Frank Lloyd Wright when his ceiling light fixture in the Francis W. Tiny House in Peoria, Illinois fetched $2.9 million, six times its high estimate. Designed for the home from 1902 to 1903, the fixture is considered an outstanding example of the Prairie style that helped usher in a new modern American vernacular.

Other highlights of the sale included the intimate portrayal of a model In the studio by impressionist painter William Merritt Chase, sold for $2.8 million. Landscape painter Winslow Homer On Marshfield Beach grossed $4.3 million, following two major retrospectives devoted to the artist last year at the Met in New York and the National Gallery in London.

Frank Lloyd Wright, ceiling light from the Francis W. Little House, Peoria, Illinois, sold for $2,903,500. Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s.

“As one of the finest collections and the last of its kind to celebrate American art in all its forms, the Wolf Collection has been a momentous occasion for the American art and design markets,” said Jodi Pollack, Chairman of Sotheby’s and Global Co-Head of 20th-Century Design, in a statement.

The sale kicked off a series of auctions dedicated to the Wolf collection. Yesterday, ‘Exceptional Jewels’ sold, grossing $8 million, while American bronze statues featured in ‘Forging America’ fetched $2.3 million. The ‘America Without Reserve: The Wolf Family Collection’ online sale ends Monday, while the ‘Cross-Currents in America’ and ‘Building America’ live sales will take place today at Sotheby’s New York.