Julius Held goodies to auction

Mr. Held, a longtime professor of art history at Barnard College, died in 2002 at 97. Now his children have decided to auction a sampling of his collection -- about 620 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures -- on Jan. 29 at Christie’s in New York.

Quite a "sampling"! Perhaps I misremember, but I thought a few of his items were sold shortly after his death. Nothing like this quantity, certainly.

By comparison with today's overheated contemporary-art prices -- one of Damien Hirst's dead animals or Jeff Koons's sculptures can bring many millions of dollars apiece -- Mr. Held’s works might be viewed as relatively inexpensive. The collection has been conservatively estimated to sell for $2 million to $3 million.

Lots of interesting pieces, many of them of greatest interest to scholarly collectors -- and many of the sort regarded by dealers as "difficult". Of course, today's "difficult" can easily become tomorrow's "hot". From the NY Times.

Julius Held's NYT obit is here.

Posted by David on June 21, 2008 10:27 AM