New York November Auctions: Deaccessioning Debates and the Kerry James Marshall Controversy

The November auction season in New York is underway, with major sales at Phillips, Sotheby's, and Christie's. At Phillips, Jackson Pollock's 'Number 16' (1950), donated by Nelson Rockefeller to the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro in 1952, is expected to sell for around $18 million. The museum is deaccessioning the work. Deaccessioning remains a contentious issue, highlighted by the case of Kerry James Marshall's 'Knowledge and Wonder' (1995), commissioned for the Chicago Public Library for $10,000. The painting was consigned to Christie's Evening Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art with an estimate of $10-15 million, but was withdrawn after public outcry and criticism from the artist, who stated he would no longer accept public art commissions. Earlier, the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority of Chicago sold Marshall's 'Past Times' (1997) at Sotheby's for $21.1 million to Sean 'Diddy' Combs. Meanwhile, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe has consigned three works by Georgia O'Keeffe to Sotheby's: 'A Street' (1926), 'Calla Lillies on Red' (1928), and 'Cottonwood Tree in Spring' (1943), estimated to bring $20-30 million to fund acquisitions. This follows the museum's 2014 sale of 'Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1' (1936) for $44.4 million, a record for a female artist at auction.