Sotheby’s Amsterdam will offer for sale on Tuesday 4 October 2011 the third and final selection of works from the former Peter Stuyvesant Collection, property of British American Tobacco Netherlands (BAT). The thread of the sale: Pop art, Op art, Photography, Conceptual Art, Zero and 20th Century British Art by a varied group of international contemporary artists such as Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Patrick Caulfield, Tony Cragg, Bruce Nauman, Jim Dine, Jean Dewasne, Victor Vasarely, Julio Le Parc, Joël Stein, Bill Henson, Marijke van Warmerdam, Jan Dibbets, Antony Donaldson, William Scott, Francis Bacon, Patrick Heron and Adolf Luther. The latter’s Kinetisches Hohlspiegel Objekt of circa 1969 is of outstanding museum quality, according to Bert-Jan van Egteren, Head of the Modern & Contemporary Art Department of Sotheby’s Amsterdam.
Circa 160 works from various disciplines are represented in this auction, including paintings, prints, photographs, ‘textiles’ (the Lesotho project) and sculptures. The works are estimated between €500 and €50.000 with a total estimate of more then €500.000. All the artworks are completely fresh to the market.
The former Peter Stuyvesant Collection represents a pioneering approach to using art in a factory setting to inspire workers by transforming their surroundings. This was the concept of the Collection’s founder, Alexander Orlow (1918 – 2009), whose great innovation was to change the context in which art is appreciated. In 1960 Orlow invited 13 artists from 13 different European countries to create paintings for the production hall in the Turmac Tobacco Company in the Netherlands. The theme he chose was “Joie de Vivre” and he specified that the works were to be large in size with vivid colours and shapes, powerful enough to stand out in the large factory halls. While the initial responses of employees ranged from surprise to disbelief, they soon came to enjoy the enhancement to their workplace and Orlow made the serendipitous discovery that productivity actually increased.
On 8 March 2010, Sotheby’s Amsterdam sold the first part of the BAT Artventure Collection. The sale exceeded all expectations, achieving a total of €13,6 million ($18,6 million / £ 12,2 million), well in excess of pre-sale expectations (Est. €4 -6 million) and the highest total ever achieved in the Netherlands for a sale of fine art. The second part of the collection, was sold on 19 April 2011 and realised a total of €2,9 million / £2,6 million / $4,2 million, a figure well above the pre-sale expectations of €1 million. The sale set 43 new artist records and 25 benchmarks for artists new to auction.
Rob Sneep, Director and Senior Specialist Modern and Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Amsterdam, comments: ‘The sale of the final part of the collection is full of surprises. Among young art collectors a great opportunity to complete their collection. For 500 to 5,000 euros collectors have the opportunity to gain a fantastic work of art.’
By 1961 it became clear that, along side the eye of Alexander Orlow, there needed to be a guiding hand in the selection of what should be added to the collection. The first adviser appointed was Willem Sandberg, former Director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; then Renilde Hammacher van den Brande, former chief curator for modern art at Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam; followed by Wim Beeren, former Director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; and most recently Martijn Sanders, former Director of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw (until 2006).
Sotheby’s Amsterdam will offer THE BAT ARTVENTURE COLLECTION, formerly known as the PETER STUYVESANT COLLECTION, PART III, on Tuesday 4 October at 7 pm. The viewing days are from 29 September to 2 October from 10 am to 5 pm.
A few highlights in the sale:
*Adolf Luther, Kinetisches Hohlspiegel Objekt, 36 rotating, concave round mirrors, aluminium covered steel, electric motor and wood, 213 by 163,5 cm. Estimate €40.000-60.000
*Andy Warhol, Reigning Queens: Queen Beatrix, 1985, screenprint in colours, sheet: 99,8 by 79,8 cm. Estimate €10.000-15.000
*Julio Le Parc, Série 25D, No 1-3 3I1 1-3 3I1, circa 1971, collage on paper laid down on board, 70 by 70 cm. Estimate €4.000-6.000
*Patrick Heron, Big Violet with Red and Blue: March 1965, oil on canvas, 152 by 213 cm. Estimate €50.000-70.000
*Jan Dibbets, Round Lutheran Church Amsterdam, 1985, lithograpg and photocollage, 100 by 115,5 cm. Estimate €3.000-4.000
*Marijke van Warmerdam, In Thought, 2002, C-Type on alaminium, 120 by 178 cm. Estimate €3.000-5.000
*Shinkichi Tajiri, Warrior, circa 1957, bronze, 69 by 32 by 25,5 cm. Estimate €6.000-8.000
*Alexander Calder, Untitled, 1974, mohair wool tapestry, 190 by 150 cm. Commissioned in 1974 in an edition of 50 by the Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, produced in collaboration with Royal Lesotho Tapestry Weavers. Estimate €2.000-3.00
*Antony Donaldson, Bring it to Jerome, Dated 1964, acrylic on canvas, 167,5 by 167,5 cm. Estimate €2.000-3.000
Image: Alexander Calder, Untitled, 1974, mohair wool tapestry, 190 by 150 cm. Commissioned in 1974 in an edition of 50 by the Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, produced in collaboration with Royal Lesotho Tapestry Weavers. Estimate €2.000-3.000. Photo: Sotheby’s.
