Danish Collector Jens Faurschou Is Selling Works From His Esteemed Foundation in a Christie’s Online Auction

The Danish collector Jens
Faurschou is auctioning off works from his foundation’s collection
at Christie’s this summer to support future exhibitions across the
organization’s spaces in Copenhagen, Beijing, Venice, and New
York. 

The auction, titled
“The World Is a Sphere: Art
From the Faurschou Foundation,” will run online from July 3 through 16, and
will reflect the global
outlook of the foundation, which has worked to foster cross-cultural dialogue, particularly
between the East and West, since it was founded in 2011.

In a reflection of Faurschou’s connections to artists from
around the world, Chen Tianzhuo, Elmgreen & Dragset, Christian
Lemmerz, Shirin Neshat, Sun Xun, Yu Ji, and Nikita
Shalenny have
additionally agreed to donate works for the benefit
sale.

“It’s nice to get the support,”
Jens Faurschou tells Artnet News, noting that,
“once in a while, we do
deaccession works to support our exhibition program. The pre-sale
estimate ranges from £5.1 million at the low end to £7.3
million at the top ($6.3 million to $9 million). So far, none of
the works have a third-party guarantee.

Highlights of the sale include a
landscape by the Danish painter Per Kirkby, Mild Vinter II (1989), estimated at £200,000 to £300,000, and
a group of works by Ai
Weiwei, including his 2009 Coca-Cola Vase, estimated at £250,000 to £350,000. (The sale
is titled after a quote by the artist.) 

Among the other Chinese artists represented in the sale
are Sun Xun, Yu Ji, Yu Hong, and Liu Xiaodong, whose work is informed by the
political and social upheaval of China’s Cultural
Revolution. 

“I’m always reluctant to let
works go,” Faurschou says. “I think Liu Xiaodong’s Pink Phoenix is a fantastic painting. I came to the studio just after he had finished
it, and it’s one I really love. But I have quite a few works in the
collection so I thought we could part with it.” The work, from
2011, carries an
estimate of £600,000 to £800,000.

The sale also includes Untitled IV (Anatomy of Architecture
series) (2016) by Simone
Leigh, which Faurschou
bought from the late gallerist Jack Tilton at the Art Show fair in
New York in 2016. It is estimated to sell for between £120,000
and £180,000.

“I love this artist and I
remember being blown away when I first saw her work,” Faurschou
says.

“It’s wonderful to see works in the auction that reflect the
Foundation’s commitment so elegantly,” Katharine Arnold,
Christie’s co-head of Post-war and contemporary Art in Europe,
tells Artnet News. “Simone Leigh’s piece is also a highlight for me
and could set a new record for the artist.”

Other lots of note
include works by Anselm
Kiefer (estimated at £700,000 to £1 million) and George Baselitz
(£500,000 to
£700,000).

Despite the economic downturn, the atmosphere for single-owner
sales seems to be positive. In recent months, a Sotheby’s auction
of objects from the collection of dealer Rafael Valls tripled its
pre-sale estimate, and another sale from dealer Danny Katz’s
collection generated $2.8 million, according to Art Market Monitor.

Since the Faurschou Foundation opened an outpost in New
York at the end of last year, Faurschou says he has been
“overwhelmed” by the community’s welcome. When that location
reopens, it will prolong its inaugural group exhibition titled “The
Red Bean Grows in the South.”

“The World Is a Sphere: Art From the Faurschou
Foundation” will run
July 3 through 16 at Christie’s online.

The post Danish Collector Jens Faurschou Is Selling Works
From His Esteemed Foundation in a Christie’s Online Auction
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