Lindsay Pollock scores a big scoop with the news that both auction houses are competing for the estate of Frances Lasker Brody, the LA art patron who died last year at the age of 93.

Dealers say it was long thought that some of the collection would be donated to LACMA. […] Yet it appears the creme of the collection will be sold. Sources familiar with the Brody collection say it includes a 1932 Picasso of a reclining woman — think Steve Wynn’s Le Reve — tagged $40 million to $60 million, and  Giacometti’s Grand Tete de Diego, worth around $15 million to $20 million. […] The auction houses submitted proposals in December, according to a market source, and the deal will likely go to whichever house provides the juiciest financial package.

Perhaps this is the Guarantee Christie’s CEO Edward Dolman was making reference to when he spoke with Bloomberg’s Scott Reyburn recently about the firm’s being engaged in some guarantee negotiations presently.

Christie’s and Sotheby’s Vie for Brody Estate (Lindsay Pollock)