A landmark group of Scandinavian masterworks from the collection of ambassador John L. Loeb will headline Phillips’ modern and contemporary art sales in London this March. Loeb served as the US ambassador to Denmark from 1981 to 1983.
The auctions, taking place on March 5 and 7 at the house’s Berkeley Square HQ, are spearheaded by Vilhelm Hammershøi’s Interior of Woman Placing Branches in Vase on Table (1900), which carries a high estimate of £2 million.
The Loeb collection, considered one of the most significant private holdings of Danish art amassed in the US, will hit the auction block across Phillips’ London and New York salesrooms this season. Four works will feature in the March 5 evening sale, followed by 24 additional lots in the March 7 day sale.
“Ambassador Loeb’s discerning eye and deep appreciation for Danish culture have resulted in a collection of extraordinary depth and sensitivity,” Jeremiah Evarts, the Phillips’ deputy chairman for the Americas, said in a statement. “His commitment to championing Danish art, particularly the quietly radical work of Vilhelm Hammershøi, has helped bring renewed global attention to a school of painting that continues to resonate with contemporary audiences.”
The grouping arrives amid renewed institutional focus on Scandinavian modernism, with recent and forthcoming exhibitions at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, the Fondation Beyeler, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery. A major Hammershøi retrospective also recently opened at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and will travel to Kunsthaus Zürich.
“This season, we are proud to offer a sale that brings together celebrated 20th and 21st-century artists, from the discerning eye of the collection of ambassador John L. Loeb, which foregrounds the international importance of Scandinavian Modernism, to the minimalist work by Donald Judd and the inventive materiality of El Anatsui,” Olivia Thornton, Phillips’ deputy chairwoman and head of modern and contemporary art, Europe, said in a statement.“London remains a vital crossroads for collectors and institutions alike, and we look forward to sharing these highlights with our global audience during the exhibition and auction.”
Harald Sohlberg’s Autumn at Leangbukten, Oslofjord (1926), estimated at £850,000 to £1.3 million, alongside works by Anna Ancher and Bertha Wegmann, will also be offered.
Beyond Scandinavia, next week’s evening sale brings together a cross-section of postwar and contemporary heavyweights. A rare 24-by-20-inch example of Andy Warhol’s Mao (1973), from a subset of ten works and appearing at auction for the first time, has a high estimate of £1.8 million. Banksy’s Happy Choppers (2003), an early work once owned by actor Robin Williams and included in the artist’s landmark 2006 “Barely Legal” exhibition in LA, is also up for grabs.
Material innovation takes center stage in El Anatsui’s Zebra Square (2007), from his celebrated bottle-cap series, estimated at £750,000 to £1 million. The work was made the same year as his Venice Biennale presentation.
Two curated private collections will also be sold. “Minimalist Masterworks: Property of a Distinguished European Collector” features Donald Judd’s Untitled (1987), with a high estimate of £500,000. A trio of canvases by Brice Marden from his “Nevisian Story” series (2004-07) will also hit the block.
Meanwhile, “A Life of Collecting: Works From An Important Belgian Collector Couple” includes Tracey Emin’s An Insane desire For you (2019), estimated at £600,000 to £800,000. This coincides with the opening of her major retrospective at Tate Modern. It is joined by Rebecca Warren’s Fascia V (2012), a work that reexamines the sculptural tradition through a feminist lens.
