Photo Flash: Sotheby's Auction of Edward Albee's Art Collection Raises $12.5 Million

Sotheby's auction of The Collection of Edward Albee totaled $12.5 million today in New York. Every work on offer was sold, denoting rare 'white glove' auction status, with three-quarters of all lots outstripping their high estimates. The full proceeds of the sale will benefit The Edward F. Albee Foundation, which provides residencies for writers and visual artists in Montauk, Long Island. Scroll down for a look at some of the works!

Amy Cappellazzo, Chairman of Sotheby's Fine Art Division, noted: "Edward's canny eye and thoughtful understanding of the artistic process translated to a broad collecting audience today. Collectors were voracious for a slice of New York intellectual history, and we were thrilled to achieve such strong results on behalf of the artist's namesake foundation."

Acquired across decades, the 100+ works on offer surrounded Albee in the Tribeca loft he lived in for over 30 years. Together, they demonstrate the artist's great passion for collecting and provide unique insight into his creative vision. The highly-personal group spans the 20th century with a focus on - in Albee's words - "art that is about art", featuring American, Modern and Contemporary art alongside a selection of African & Oceanic sculpture (Edward Albee, A Playwright's Adventure in the Visual Arts).*

The sale was led by Milton Avery's Meditation, a luminous balance of color and form that held court in the middle of the Tribeca loft. Three bidders vied for the canvas from 1960, before it sold on the telephone for $3.7 million - the second-highest auction price for the American artist (estimate $2/3 million).

An impressive 16 new auction records were established throughout the sale for many of the artists championed by Albee personally and in his writing. Those records were highlighted by: John McLaughlin's V-1957, which initiated a bidding battle between six collectors before fetching $516,500 (estimate $80/120,000); Ella Bergmann-Michel's Spektrafall: B234, sold for $68,750, a price nearly ten times its high estimate and over six times her previous record; and Albee's beloved Lee Krasner, whose Untitled set a new auction record for a work on paper by the artist.

Photos courtesy Sotheby's

Portrait of Edward Albee in his Tribeca loft, featuring Milton Avery's Meditation.
Copyright Truman Moore/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images Courtesy Sotheby's.

Lot 30
Milton Avery Meditation
signed and dated 1960; signed, titled and dated 1960 on the reverse
oil on canvas
68 by 40 in. 172.7 by 101.6 cm.
Estimate $2/3 million. Sold for $3,668,750.

Lot 38
Jean Arp
Les Deux Soeurs
painted wood relief
29 3/4 by 23 7/8 in. 75.6 by 60.7 cm
Executed in 1927.
Estimate $2.5/3.5 million. Sold for $1,992,500.

Lot 63
Marc Chagall
Portrait De La Soeur De L'artiste
signed, dated 1908 and inscribed Witebsk 1963 on the reverse
oil on canvas
25 by 21 in. 63.5 by 53.3 cm
Executed in 1908.
Estimate $1.5/2 million. Sold for $852,500.

Lot 20
Wassily Kandinsky
Weiss Auf Schwarz (White On Black)
signed with the monogram and dated 30
oil on board
27 1/2 by 27 1/4 in. 70 by 69.3 cm.
Painted in November 1930.
Estimate $800,000/1.2 million. Sold for $792,500.

Lot 42
Lee Krasner
Untitled
signed and dated 64
acrylic and gouache on paper
30 by 22 1/4 in. 76.2 by 56.5 cm.
Estimate $120/180,000. Sold for $588,500.

Lot 11
John McLaughlin
V-1957
signed, titled and dated 1957 on the reverse
oil on canvas, in artist's frame
31 by 22 7/8 in. 78.7 by 58.1 cm.
Estimate $80/120,000. Sold for $516,500.
AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST

Lot 7
Kurt Schwitters
Ohne Titel (Konstruktion Mit Rotem Kreis Und Schwarzem Dreieck) (Untitled (Construction With Red Circle And Black Triangle))
signed and dated 23
tempera and graphite on card
10 5/8 by 8 1/8 in. 26.9 by 20.6 cm.
Executed in 1923.
Estimate $70/90,000. Sold for $444,500.

Lot 58
Milton Avery
Two Nudes
signed and dated 1954; signed, titled, dated 1954 on the reverse
oil on canvas
27 by 37 in. 68.6 by 94 cm.
Estimate $400/600,000. Sold for $372,500.

Lot 15
John McLaughlin
#11-1960
signed, titled and dated 1960 on the reverse
oil on canvas
47 7/8 by 35 7/8 in. 121.6 by 91.1 cm.
Estimate $70/90,000. Sold for $262,500.

Lot 22
Medardo Rosso
Enfant Juif (Bambino Ebreo)
wax over plaster
height: 9 1/8 in. 23.1 cm
Conceived in 1893 and cast in 1923; this work is unique.
Estimate $80/120,000. Sold for $250,000.