When artist Adam Pendleton first heard in 2016 that musician Nina Simone’s childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina, where she learned to play the piano, was coming on the market ahead of demolition, he knew he had to save her. The contemporary artist recruited Julie Mehretu, Ellen Gallagher and Rashid Johnson to form a four-person LLC to purchase the property for $95,000.
This week, their efforts were supported by a partnership between the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and the Pace Gallery, which hosted a gala And auction which raised nearly $6 million to preserve Simone’s legacy.
“We didn’t even know what we were getting into,” Pendleton recalled of his purchase of the property, at this Saturday’s gala dinner at Pace Chelsea, where the works for sale in the charity auction were on display. “What we knew was the power of Nina Simone’s music, the power of an artistic legacy, the power to actively define as an artist, as a musician, as a citizen, what is America and what America can be.”
Adam Pendleton among the works for sale at the charity auction at Pace on May 17, 2023. Photo by Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images.
Chef JJ Johnson cooked dinner for the evening, and Grammy Award-winning musician HER performed Simone’s “Four Women,” which traces black history through four imaginary characters. The gala raised about half a million dollars, according to Pace.
Pendleton and Marc Glimcher began planning for both the party and the sale in 2019, their efforts were obviously delayed by the pandemic. Meanwhile, tennis star Venus Williams joined Pendleton in selecting 11 works of art for the auction, which Pace helped facilitate on Sotheby’s online platform, with contributions from the four artists involved. in the project as well as other artists such as Stanley Whitney and Anicka Yi.
The works are all related to Simone, either through their titles or by honoring her impact more indirectly. “Each of the artists that Adam and I have selected for the auction have a unique and powerful voice,” Williams told interviewers as the auction approached.
The highest flying lot of the sale: Cecily Brown, Run away, 2021. © Cecily Brown. Courtesy of Cecily Brown and Paula Cooper Gallery. Photo: Genevieve Hanson
The online auction opened bidding from May 12 and ended today. At 2 p.m., one hour before the conclusion, two of the lots, including the print by Ellen Gallagher Abu Simbel (2005), a sci-fi inspired depiction of the ancient Egyptian site, were still awaiting their first offerings. Meanwhile, paintings by Cecily Brown and Sarah Sze had exceeded their upper estimates by $260,000 and $480,000 respectively, both selling for $900,000 each. And even that of Julie Mehretu New dawn, sing (for Nina) (2023) smashed its $1.2 million estimate, hitting $1.6 million. In the end, the auction brought in a total of $5.38 million for the cause.
Combined with this weekend’s gala, sales totaled $6 million, which will keep Simone’s childhood home standing. The site could even one day serve as a cultural center for creative people of all generations. So far, Pace reps said, the Pendleton Collective has already partnered with numerous groups to help stabilize appalachian home exterior. Construction is expected to resume this fall, as the house turns into a multicultural ode to Simone’s lasting impact.
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