Freeman's Sells Part 1 of Lehman Brothers Art Collection for $1.35 Million

Freeman's auctioneers sold the first portion of the multimillion dollar art collection of the former global financial services firm. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LBHI) in Philadelphia for $1.35 million, double the original estimate for this part of the collection. Anne Henry, Vice President of Modern & Contemporary Works of Art at Freeman's, said, "With multiple world records falling under the hammer and nearly every state in the Union, 30 countries, and more than 1,300 registered bidders represented in the auction room, along with 600 live internet bidders on Artfact, Philadelphia was truly at the center of the art world today. We gave members of the public a rare opportunity to purchase works from one of the most substantial corporate art collections ever assembled in the country." Highlights in today's 100% sold sale, which was made up of works from Lehman offices in New York, Boston and Delaware, included a Roy Lichtenstein "I Love Liberty", which sold for US $49,000 and  ten prints by Louis Lozowick which sold for US $94,000, in total. A Friedel Dzubas, 'Tundra II' sold for US$28,600; a  set of seven prints by Robert Indiana, "Polygons'" sold for US $23,750; and a Byron Browne, 'Image in Black' US $25,000. Georges Schreiber's 1945 view of a coral sun setting over Manhattan's Financial District hung in the New York board room of Lehman Brothers, sold for US $20,000. Significant works by Bernar Venet, Driss Ouadahi, Arturo Herrera and Pouran Jinchi were also included in the 280 lot sale. There were prints by Louise Bourgeois, and Terry Frost, photographs by Berenice Abott, along with important paintings by Bernard Cathelin and Herbert Brandl.  In addition, there was a large number of reasonably priced prints, drawings, and paintings from standout artists of the latter half of the 20th century. Mr. Kelly Wright, an adviser to LBHI who is overseeing the evaluation and sale of this offering, said, "We are very pleased with the result. There was a keen interest from private buyers, and the Lehman's attachment seemed to also pay dividends. It bodes very well for the future sales we are holding at Freeman's." Freeman's will be selling the next portion of the Lehman's collection in Philadelphia in their "Fine American and European Paintings and Sculpture" sale on December 6th, 2009, with the last items of the collection being sold at a "no reserve sale"  "Works From the Lehman Brothers Collection: Part II", on February 12th, 2010.