The Mica Ertegun Sale at Christie's is Master Class in Good Taste
One could be forgiven for envying Mica Ertegun. After all, the late designer and society fixture seemed to have it all: a long marriage to a dashing mogul, impeccable taste, famous friends, and a booming business as one of the world's most sought-after interior designers. Now, we all have the chance to take something of Mica's for our own.
Beginning November 19, Christie's will auctioning off items from Ertegun's collection of art and objects, including jewelry, furniture, and artwork by the likes of Andy Warhol, David Hockney, and René Magritte, whose L'empire des lumières is estimated to sell for more than $95 million.
Ertegun was known as a hostess whose eclectic guest lists could include everyone from Andy Warhol to Jacqueline Onassis, Joan Didion, Andy Warhol, Henry Kissinger, and Mick Jagger. But she was also a philanthropist and entrepreneur who co-founded the design firm MAC II in 1967 and became known for skillfully merging antique pieces with touches of modernity and mastering the power of negative space. She placed printed upholstery near furniture of simple silhouettes; disrupted a neutral-color palette mid-century room with small foot-blocks painted with multi-colored palm leaves; and used organic textures to add other layers of visual interest. The properties in which she designed, as well as her own homes, never overpowered the gaze of a visitor, but also never bored them, either.
The collection in Mica: The Collection of Mica Ertegun illustrates the wide-ranging taste that helped define Ertegun's life. But it is perhaps the selection of rare Surrealist pieces, including work Joan Miró, that explains her the best.
"Mica Ertegun was the epitome of style," Max Carter, Vice Chairman of 20th and 21st Century Art at Christie's said in a release. "Everything in her home, from the masterpieces to the functional objects, was exquisite and personal. Her generous embrace of other cultures is reflected in the collection’s range, with the Russian and Ukrainian avant-garde hanging side-by-side with Ruscha, Hockney, and Miró, and the very best of Surrealism with de Stijl, Purism and Color Field."
Though Carter credits Renee Magritte's Lempire des Lumières with best capturing Ertegun's "aesthetic philosophy in its balance and restraint," other highlights in the sale include paintings by David Hockney, a chaise lounge by French artist Ingrid Donat, and a photo of Mica Ertegun by Andy Warhol. The collection will be sold in three parts: November 19, November 20, and December 13.
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