Christie's and Sotheby's Vie for Herbert Lust's $60M Art Collection

The late collector Herbert Lust's estate is offering roughly 300 artworks valued at around $60 million, with Christie's and Sotheby's competing for the consignment. Lust, who died in May at age 99, had already donated hundreds of works to museums, but his remaining holdings include major pieces such as a large sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, likely the top lot. Other artists in the collection include Robert Indiana, Mary Bauermeister, Frank Stella, and Hans Bellmer, of whom Lust was a major collector. Sotheby's may have an advantage, having cultivated Lust for years, including a 2017 sale of 27 Indiana works and a 2019 documentary filmed at his Greenwich, Connecticut home. A key trophy is an edition of Giacometti's 'Figure, demie grandeur' (1964), which Lust described as the only nude with a real face. Comparable Giacometti sculptures have sold for over $25 million, and the artist's record at auction is $141 million for 'L'Homme au doigt' (1947). Lust's collection also includes works by Alexander Calder, and he made significant donations to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (including 200 Giacomettis) and the Hirshhorn Museum (over 70 photographs). Lust, an investment banker and eccentric collector, began collecting after meeting Giacometti in Paris in 1949, initially disliking his work until reading Sartre. He famously said, 'Always buy what you love.' Both auction houses declined to comment on the negotiations.