Phillips de Pury isn’t the only auction house willing to offer up its infrastructure for a dealer to hold an auction. Georgina Adam reports that Christie’s will host David Zwirner’s sale of primary market works to raise money for Haitian relief.
Leading New York dealer David Zwirner has teamed up with the film producer and actor Ben Stiller to organise a star-studded charity auction in New York in September, to benefit schools in Haiti. “We are hoping to raise at least $10m,” says Zwirner. “We already have works from 21 leading artists – primary market works for which there are waiting lists.” The project started after collector and actor Steve Martin sent Stiller, who had been involved in building schools in Haiti, to Zwirner’s gallery.
“Haiti is just an hour by plane from Miami, but it’s a different world, there is no sanitation, no running water, no work and no schools,” says Zwirner. Among the artists on board are Marlene Dumas, Paul McCarthy, Raymond Pettibon, Luc Tuymans and Jeff Koons, and Zwirner notes the help he has had from dealers such as Hauser & Wirth, Pace, Matthew Marks and Gagosian. The sale will be on September 22 at Christie’s, which is waiving all its fees.
“And I intend to micromanage the grants, to make sure the money goes to the right places,” says Zwirner.
The Art Market: Gathering Pace (Financial Times)
