Christie’s Presents MICA: The Collection of Mica Ertegun
NEW YORK – Christie’s is honored to announce MICA: THE COLLECTION OF MICA ERTEGUN, a historic series of auctions beginning at Christie's New York this fall with a dedicated Single-Owner Auction on the evening of November 19th, and a dedicated Single-Owner Auction the morning of November 20th. Jewelry, Design and Decorative Arts sales will be held on December 10th and 13th respectively and will take place in New York and Paris. The series spans a vast array of art and objects, harmoniously bringing together a diverse range of categories, mediums, and time periods. The debut sales on the 19th and 20th will feature the finest in Surrealism along with rare examples of Russian and Ukrainian Modernism, Purism, de Stijl and Color Field.
The offerings range from the most important Surrealist work ever to appear at auction to interiors which, with their Chekhovian echoes, were the laboratory for her life as a designer and as a hostess. The Collection of Mica Ertegun exemplifies Mrs. Ertegun’s sensitivity, elegance and multicultural heritage. Acquired over more than half a century, the offerings are a part of Mrs. Ertegun’s personal collections in Manhattan, Southampton and Paris. A significant portion of the seller’s sale proceeds is intended to benefit philanthropic initiatives. During her life, Mrs. Ertegun generously supported the Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities at Oxford University, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the World Monument Fund and more.
Marc Porter, Chairman of Christie’s Americas, remarks, “We are grateful to be the stewards of the collection of Mica Ertegun, whose life and legacy is an inspiration. Mrs. Ertegun was a devoted patron of the arts and education worldwide. With these sales, we pay tribute to Mrs. Ertegun and the Ertegun legacy of sharing.”
Among the leading highlights of the collection is the spectacular and exceedingly rare L'empire des lumières by René Magritte (estimate on request; in excess of $95 million). The work depicts a paradoxical Surrealist scene in which day and night are in simultaneous occurrence.
Max Carter, Christie’s Vice Chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art, remarks, “Mica Ertegun was the epitome of style. Everything in her homes, from the masterpieces to the functional objects, was exquisite and personal. Her generous embrace of other cultures is reflected in the collection’s range, with Russian and Ukrainian Modernism hanging side-by-side with Ruscha, Hockney, and Miró, and the very best of Surrealism with de Stijl, Purism and Color Field. But of all the works she lived with, Magritte’s L'empire des lumières most nearly captures her aesthetic philosophy in its balance and restraint. An icon of Surrealism, the Ertegun Magritte is arguably the finest, most deftly rendered and hauntingly beautiful of the series. Like Mica’s eye, it is perfect.”
Ioana Maria Banu Ertegun, known as “Mica,” was born in 1926, the only child of a prominent Romanian family. In 1948, the Communist takeover forced Mica from her native country to Switzerland; she later moved to Paris, then Canada, where she and her first husband settled and worked on their chicken farm on Lake Ontario. In 1958, Mica traveled to New York to meet with the Turkish ambassador in the hope that he could help extricate her father from Romania. There, she met her future husband, Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records. The couple married in 1961 and established their life in New York in their now historic Manhattan residence. Here, they regularly hosted events attended by figures from across the globe, crosspollinating worlds of art, music, fashion and media. For the next sixty years, Mrs. Ertegun built her legacy as an arbiter of style. In 1967 she founded the extremely successful design business MAC II alongside Vogue contributor Chessy Rayner. For decades, the two envisioned and executed the interior design for the world’s most tasteful and enlightened figures. Mrs. Ertegun and MAC II have both been recognized among the AD100, the highly esteemed list of designers and architects. Deeply generous, Mrs. Ertegun understood the importance of sharing with the global community. Her contributions to organizations in the realms of art, music, education, and religion were innumerable, ranging from efforts to preserve heritage sites including Brancusi’s Endless Column in Romania and the Edicule of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to the establishment in perpetuity of the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities at Oxford University.
Schedule of Live Sales:
MICA: THE COLLECTION OF MICA ERTEGUN | Part I, 7pm EST, Tuesday, November 19, 2024
MICA: THE COLLECTION OF MICA ERTEGUN | Part II, 10am EST, Wednesday, November 20, 2024
MICA: THE COLLECTION OF MICA ERTEGUN | Part III, 10am EST, Friday, December 13, 2024
Schedule of Online Sales:
MICA: THE COLLECTION OF MICA ERTEGUN | New York Online, December 4 – 17, 2024
MICA: THE COLLECTION OF MICA ERTEGUN | Paris Online, December 4 – 18, 2024
