Property from the Collection of Ruth and Jerome Siegel: The fruits of prescient collecting

Masterworks by David Hockney, Sean Scully and Robert Indiana will star in our upcoming 20th Century sales on 15–17 November in New York

Celebrated for their compassion, élan and generosity, Ruth and Jerome Siegel were unwavering proponents of the creative process. For the Siegels, fine art served as an integral component of daily life — a source of inspiration and insight that informed their many years together.

Ruth and Jerome Siegel

At the Siegel residences, an assemblage of works from David Hockney, Sean Scully, Robert Indiana, Anish Kapoor, Fernando Botero and Robert Delaunay, among others, lined their walls. Their collection reached across period and style, juxtaposing contemporary abstract sculpture with monumental Pop masterpieces and fluidly integrating the work of younger artists with established figures. Mrs. Siegel, in particular, championed emerging talent as an art consultant and founder of the Art Latitude Gallery and the Ruth Siegel Art Gallery in New York.

Property from the Collection of Ruth and Jerome Siegel. Robert Indiana (b. 1928), Decade Autoportrait 1967, 1972–76. Oil on canvas. 72 x 72 in. (182.9 x 182.9 cm.) Estimate: $500,000–700,000. This work is offered in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 15 November at Christie’s New York. © 2016 Morgan Art Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The Siegels’ passion for the arts was embodied in their support of art institutions in New York, most notably, MoMA PS1, the Museum of Arts and Design, the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) and Sarah Lawrence College, Mrs. Siegel’s alma mater, where the couple underwrote the construction of a visual arts centre and financed the renovation of a dining and social centre named in her honour.

Property from the Collection of Ruth and Jerome Siegel. Robert Delaunay (1885–1941), Hommage à Blériot, Esquisse, 1914. Oil on canvas laid down on panel. 23 7/8 x 23 7/8 in. (60.6 x 60.x cm.) Estimate: $1,000,000–1,500,000. This work is offered in the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale on 16 November at Christie’s New York

Together, Ruth and Jerome Siegel supported the betterment of community through their philanthropic efforts in education, medicine, personal empowerment and the arts. Their legacy is found in an extraordinary collection of masterworks by some of the greatest names in recent art history.

The majority of the collection will be sold in New York across Christie’s November sales of Post-War and Contemporary, Impressionist & Modern and Latin American Art, as well as its March First Open auction.

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