DEALER BERNARD GOLDBERG TO CLOSE DOORS, AUCTION ALL ARTWORK AT CHRISTIE’S
After twelve years of dealing in high-end American art, New York art dealer Bernard Goldberg will close his Madison Avenue gallery and sell its entire inventory of 175 artworks and furnishings at New York auctions hosted by Christie’s International this year, according to Bloomberg. The sale is estimated to fetch as much as ten million dollars.
Goldberg says his latest move is prompted by his age, not art-market volatility.
“Right now, I feel the art market is getting better and better,” said Goldberg in an interview last week in his Fifth Avenue apartment. “This is a good time to sell.”
Goldberg’s works will be offered in six separate auctions during Christie’s spring and fall sales. The auctions include seventy American paintings and sculptures, to be offered May 20.
Among Christie’s projected top lots is a two-foot-tall, graceful Jacques Lipchitz 1914 Cubist Spanish Dancer sculpture, expected to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000. Goldberg had been retailing the bronze for $850,000 at the gallery. “Is it going to bother me if it sells for $400,000? Absolutely.” said Goldberg. “There are things I paid top dollar for and will not get those prices today.”
Goldberg’s landscape of Central Park by American Impressionist Frederick Carl Frieseke will be sold September 28. Goldberg paid $40,000. Christie’s estimate: $15,000 to $25,000.
Goldberg is best known for selling American art dating from 1900 to 1950, and these works span a range of styles, from Ashcan to modernism. The auctions will include everything in his gallery, even those Goldberg says he’s tempted to keep.
“We were able to take the best of the property—everything that he had to offer,” said Eric Widing, head of Christie’s American Paintings department. “He is making a grand bow before he exits the dealer stage.”
