All gone! Bunny Mellon's art collection nets $158.7M at auction - with paintings QUADRUPLING pre-sale estimates

  • The Listerine heiress and horticulturist passed away in March aged 103 after a 15-year battle with stomach cancer
  • A selection of her vast art collection went under the hammer at Sotheby's New York on Monday night 
  • 'We saw bidding from literally all over the world . . . We are absolutely delighted,' Sotheby's auctioneer Oliver Barker said 

By SADIE WHITELOCKS, US SENIOR HEALTH REPORTER and AP

Published: | Updated:

A wealth of artwork owned by the late Listerine heiress Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon fetched more than $158.7 million at auction on Monday night, with some pieces quadrupling pre-sale estimates.

In total 43 post-war and contemporary paintings by artists including Pablo Picasso, Georges Seurat and Edward Hopper, went under the hammer at Sotheby's New York, attracting bidders from around the world.

The star lot items proved to be two paintings by American abstract impressionist Mark Rothko, which made a combined $76.4 million.

Star lot: Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange), from 1955 and owned by the late Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, sold for $36.5 million in the Sotheby's sale on Monday night

Star lot: Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange), from 1955 and owned by the late Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, sold for $36.5 million in the Sotheby's sale on Monday night

Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange), from 1955, sold for $36.5 million, just over its pre-sale estimate high of $30 million. 

Meanwhile, Untitled - a dark blue expanse created 15 years later - brought in just under $40 million, almost double its top pre-sale estimate.

At least two wall hangings brought in nearly quadruple their pre-auction estimates.

Bouquet de Fleurs by the French impressionist painter Eva Gonzalez sold for $1.56 million and Le Saladier by the Russian master Nicolas de Stael netted $2.04 million.  

'Richest couple in America': Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon is pictured in 1987 with her husband Paul Mellon - himself an heir and successful banker. He passed away in 1999 and their estate will go to family and charities

'Richest couple in America': Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon is pictured in 1987 with her husband Paul Mellon - himself an heir and successful banker. He passed away in 1999 and their estate will go to family and charities

Sought-after: Rothko's Untitled brought in just under $40 million, almost double its top pre-sale estimate

Sought-after: Rothko's Untitled brought in just under $40 million, almost double its top pre-sale estimate

Going, going, gone: It was anticipated that the slice of Mellon's artwork would bring in a high of $121 million but eager collectors pushed that figure through the roof (above, the White Barn by Georgia O'Keeffe)

Going, going, gone: It was anticipated that the slice of Mellon's artwork would bring in a high of $121 million but eager collectors pushed that figure through the roof (above, the White Barn by Georgia O'Keeffe)

Eight paintings by the late American painter Richard Diebenkorn sold for a combined $32.2 million. 

At the other end of the scale, one bidder picked up a 1901 beach scene by Pablo Picasso for $700,000 - roughly half its estimated value.

'The bidding was big, was broad, was frantic,' Sotheby's auctioneer Oliver Barker said shortly after dropping the final hammer.

'We saw bidding from literally all over the world . . . We are absolutely delighted.'

It was anticipated that the slice of Mellon's artwork would bring in a high of $121 million but eager collectors pushed that figure through the roof.

Vast collection: Eight paintings by American painter Richard Diebenkorn - including this one - sold for a combined $32.2 million

Vast collection: Eight paintings by American painter Richard Diebenkorn - including this one - sold for a combined $32.2 million

Exceeding expectation: This oil on canvas titled Paysage Bord de Mere by Russian painter Nicolas de Staël smashed its pre-sale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000 with a final selling price of $425,000

Exceeding expectation: This oil on canvas titled Paysage Bord de Mere by Russian painter Nicolas de Staël smashed its pre-sale estimate of $100,000 to $150,000 with a final selling price of $425,000

Other items from the Mellon collection, including jewelry and furnishings, will be offered in a series of sales November 20 to 23. 

The total could realize more than $100 million.

Proceeds will benefit The Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, which supports The Oak Spring Garden Library in Upperville, Virginia. 

The library houses Mellon's collection of rare books, manuscripts and works of art related to landscape design, horticulture and natural history.

Mellon, a noted horticulturist and widow of philanthropist Paul Mellon, died in March at age 103 at her Virginia estate following a 15-year battle with stomach cancer.

Well-connected: Here Mellon is pictured with Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961. The two women became firm friends and Mellon, a self-taught horticulturist, designed the White House Rose Garden

Well-connected: Here Mellon is pictured with Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961. The two women became firm friends and Mellon, a self-taught horticulturist, designed the White House Rose Garden

Mellon's grandfather Jordan W. Lambert created Listerine, and her father, Gerald Lambert, built a company that made everything from Dentyne to Schick razors. 

Paul Mellon had his own fortune, inherited from his Pittsburgh industrialist father and built on holdings in banking, coal, railroads, steel and aluminum.

Bunny Mellon was a self-taught botanist and close friend of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. 

In 1961 she redesigned the White House Rose Garden, and later she created another White House garden that was named for Kennedy after her death.

The Mellons donated hundreds of important artworks to museums, including the National Gallery of Art, founded in 1937 by Paul Mellon's father, Andrew Mellon.

 

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