Christie’s will sell nine works from the Bass House, designed by architect Paul Rudolph. With estimates totaling more than $60 million, those works will head to auction this May as part of its 20th century evening sale in New York.
The group includes works by Mark Rothko, Alexander Calder, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, Agnes Martin, Gino Severini, and Morris Louis from the collection of Sid and Anne Bass, whose home in Fort Worth, Texas, was carefully custom-designed by Rudolph with displaying art as a top priority.
“You can count on one or two hands the number of houses in America that fit that description, which is what makes this so special,” Max Carter, Christie’s vice chairman for 20th and 21st century art, told ARTnews. “The works of art themselves weren’t just sort of incidental decor. They’re really fundamental to the whole experience. And each work was hung in its own very specific space.”
The top lot is Mark Rothko’s No. 4 (Two Dominants) [Orange, Plum, Black], 1950–51, which Christie’s said has an estimate “in the region of $35 million.” It was displayed near Frank Stella’s Itata (1964) from the artist’s “Notched-V” series (estimate of $6 million–$8 million). Ellsworth Kelly’s Blue Black Red (1964), which hung in the playroom, is the third-highest lot, with an estimate of $4 million–$6 million.
Ellsworth Kelly’s Blue Black Red (1964). Courtesy of Christie’s.
Carter said the pieces were collected over 15 years but mostly remained in the same locations after they were first installed. “It’s a house where everything kind of fits seamlessly together and why each work of art stands on its own.”
Other works from the Bass House that will be included in Christie’s 20th century evening sale are Gamma Upsilon by Morris Louis (est. $2 million–$3 million), Stella’s Firuzabad III (est. $1 million–$2 million), Agnes Martin’s Untitled #11 (est. $3.5 million–$5.5 million) and Untitled #2 (est. $1.5 million–$2.5 million), Alexander Calder’s hanging mobile Gypsophila (1949), and Gino Severini’s painting Danseuse (est. $1.5 million–$2.5 million).
In addition to Danseuse‘s bright colors, and its Futurist and Cubist themes, the artwork was painted ca. 1915–16, three decades earlier than Calder’s mobile, and is from one of the Italian artist’s most prized series. “It was in Severini’s first show in America, which was Alfred Stieglitz with his 291 gallery,” Carter said, pointing out its depiction of a dancer, which he noted reflected Anne’s love and support of the New York City Ballet.
Gino Severini’s Danseuse (circa 1915-1916). Courtesy of Christie’s.
Carter also highlighted the painting’s “rare and amazing” history. Stieglitz first sold Danseuse to John Quinn, the great lawyer and modernist European art collector who was instrumental in the 1913 Armory Show. Quinn’s estate sold it to the famous civil rights lawyer Arthur Springarn in 1927, and then the Basses purchased it in the 1980s.
Billionaire Sid Richardson Bass amassed his wealth in the oil industry and later became a major Disney shareholder. He ranked on the annual ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list between 1990 and 1992. Anne was an American philanthropist, socialite, and art collector who ranked on the annual ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list between 1990 and 1994.
The couple divorced in 1988. In 2020, Anne Bass died at the age of 78.
Prior to the Bass House consignment, the auction house sold twelve works from Anne Bass’s 960 Fifth Avenue apartment for $363.1 million with fees—including pieces by Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and Mark Rothko—on a presale estimate of $250 million, in May 2022. Carter called that auction “one of the greatest sales of all time.”
And last November, Christie’s sold Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half (1964) from the collection of Sid Bass for $68.3 million on an estimate of $50 million. The record-setting work was featured in a Ruscha retrospective that debuted at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and went to LACMA last year.
Christie’s 20th Century evening sale will take place on May 12. Ten additional works from the Bass House will also be sold as part of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary day sale on May 15.
The exterior of the Bass House designed by Paul Rudolph, in Fort Worth, Texas. Courtesy of Christie’s.
