The private art collection of artists Wolf Kahn (1927–2020) and Emily Mason (1932–2019) will be auctioned from Christie's New York on Tuesday, May 18 with a live auction, with online sales open from May 6 to 20.
The collection of modern artworks is expected to produce strong financial results to benefit the artists' foundations: the Wolf Kahn/Emily Mason Foundation and the Emily Mason/Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation.
According to estimates published on the auction website, the artwork is valued between $4.4 million and $7 million.
The collection includes 27 works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud, Charles Demuth, Milton Avery, and Lee Bontecou. In addition, the auction will include works by Kahn and Mason.
In their 62-year marriage, Kahn and Mason lived and worked in New York City and Vermont, where they raised a family, had independent studio practices, and a lifetime of sharing friendships and influencing each other.
“This extraordinary collection represents the work they admired and lived with, including what they acquired from esteemed artist friends,” foundation officials wrote in a news release.
Established in 1998 by Kahn and Mason, the Kahn/Mason Foundation originally was founded to support cultural institutions through grants for exhibitions, artists residencies, and community engagement with the arts.
The foundation will continue the joint philanthropy of the two artists while it now expands its mission to serve as the steward of Kahn's artistic legacy.
The foundation recently appointed a former Marlboro College president, Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, as interim president and CEO during a time of transition and growth in the organization.
The Emily Mason/Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation, formed in 2020, has a mission “to uphold the artistic legacies of Emily and her mother, a pioneering abstract painter, and to provide support for under-represented artists,.” McCulloch-Lovell said in the news release.