Mnuchin Collection sale at Sotheby's expected to fetch €110 million

On May 14, Sotheby's will auction 11 works from the Mnuchin Collection, valued at €110 million. The collection was assembled by Robert Mnuchin (1933-2025), a former Goldman Sachs director who left Wall Street at 56 to become a gallerist. Highlights include two monumental Mark Rothko paintings: No. 1 (yellow and orange, estimated €10-15 million) and Brown and Blacks in Reds (1957, estimated €60-90 million). The latter was originally acquired by Joseph E. Seagram & Sons and likely influenced Rothko's Seagram mural. Mnuchin began collecting with his wife Adriana, focusing on abstract works by artists such as Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline. He co-founded C&M Arts with James Corcoran, later L&M Arts with Dominique Lévy, which became Mnuchin Gallery in 2013. His daughter Valerie recalled their passionate, obsessive approach to collecting only 'A-grade' paintings.