Two sales featuring works from the late Gerald Fineberg’s collection are set for May in New York
Art from the collection of the late Boston art collector Gerald Fineberg is anticipated to generate over $270 million at a two-part auction at Christie’s New York in May, showcasing pieces by artists ranging from Man Ray to Christopher Wool.
Jerry Fineberg, a Boston real estate tycoon and hotelier who passed away last December, had accumulated an extensive collection of 20th-century art. Sara Friedlander, deputy chairman of post-war and contemporary art at Christie’s, said, “Jerry was a collector who thought like a curator. He immersed himself deeply in new movements and artists, which makes this collection uniquely exceptional.”
In May, around 220 works from Fineberg’s collection will be auctioned off across an evening sale and a day sale, as per Christie’s. Additional pieces from his collection will be offered in later sales, with the collection estimated to bring in around $270 million.
Fineberg’s collection covers a century of art, beginning with a Man Ray painting of Kiki de Montparnasse, who also appeared in the artist’s famous photograph, Le Violon d’Ingres (1924). The painting, Portrait de Kiki (1923), is expected to sell for up to $1.5 million.
Notable works in the May auction include Gerhard Richter’s Badende (1967) and Christopher Wool’s untitled 1993 text painting, which reads, “Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.” Both are projected to sell for $15 to $20 million. Pablo Picasso’s Buste d’homme lauré (1969) could bring in up to $12 million. Other featured artists include Joan Mitchell, Alex Katz, Alice Neel, and Willem de Kooning.
Christie’s highlighted the diversity of Fineberg’s collection, which includes pieces by numerous female artists and artists of colour. Barkley Hendricks’s Stanley (1971), a life-sized portrait of fellow artist Stanley Whitney, was created while Hendricks attended Yale University, where he and Whitney met and became friends. The painting is expected to sell for up to $7 million.
Before his passing, Fineberg served on the boards of Massachusetts art institutions such as the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston, where works by contemporary artists are displayed on the Gerald and Sandra Fineberg Art Wall.
In 2021, tenants of properties owned and managed by Fineberg’s company formed a union that held a rally and pop-up exhibition outside the ICA to protest evictions and alleged poor living conditions.
Gerald Fineberg’s extensive art collection, which spans a century and includes works by prominent artists such as Man Ray, Christopher Wool, and Pablo Picasso, is set to be auctioned off at Christie’s New York in May. The two-part auction is expected to generate over $270 million in sales. Fineberg, a late Boston real estate tycoon and hotelier, was known for his diverse collection that featured numerous female artists and artists of colour. Before his passing, he served on the boards of various Massachusetts art institutions, including the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.
