Louise Riggio is downsizing her Manhattan apartment, which means selling more than 30 works by artists including Mondrian, Magritte and Picasso.
For decades, a small but mighty painting by the artist Piet Mondrian has greeted visitors in the grand vestibule of the Park Avenue apartment where the Barnes & Noble founder, Leonard Riggio, entertained guests. But the book mogul’s death last year prompted his widow, Louise, to think about downsizing; many of the artworks that she and her husband collected would need to go.
“This is tough for me to say goodbye to old friends, but I will not put them in storage,” she said of the artworks. “They need to be seen.”
On Thursday, Christie’s said it would offer nearly 30 artworks with a total estimated value in excess of $250 million in their upcoming spring sales, including works by Magritte, Picasso, Giacometti and Warhol. The Mondrian from the family’s vestibule is expected to be the auction’s top lot with a high estimate that is expected to top the $51 million record for a similar painting set in 2022.
The announcement capped an intense bidding war between the auction house and its rival, Sotheby’s, which took the unusual step of bringing in Pace Gallery as a third-party partner in an attempt to woo Riggio, according to two senior advisers close to the negotiations. (Sotheby’s and Pace declined to comment.)
“We have a longstanding relationship with Christie’s,” Riggio said, adding that the financial aspects of the deal were more appealing than what other companies provided. (Christie’s declined to say what favorable terms it offered, though auction houses will often guarantee a minimum price for artworks to attract sellers.)
