Mall developer Taubman’s $500 million art collection up for auction

The Detroit News reports (http://bit.ly/1IQachb ) Saturday that seven Baroque paintings are among the artwork that will be removed from the museum. The 500 works stretch from antiquity to contemporary art and include paintings by Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock and Amedeo Modigliani. An Alfred Taubman’s collection comprises more than 500 works and is valued at more than $500m (£328m).

Taubman died in April.

Sotheby’s announces that the collection of legendary collector, philanthropist and businessman A. Alfred Taubman will be sold in a series of dedicated auctions beginning this autumn in New York*.

Sotheby’s said proceeds from the sale would be used to settle his estate’s tax obligations and fund a foundation. He was the principal benefactor of the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute and the Health Care Center, Health Sciences Library and Biomedical Science Research building, each of which bears his name.

“If they’re on loan to the museum, they will be removed for sale”, family spokesman Christopher Tennyson told The Detroit News about the Taubman pieces in the DIA. Some of the best-known mall developments in Metro Detroit include the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills and Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi.

Taubman was a one-time owner of Sotheby’s – and served 9 ½ months in prison after he was convicted of price-fixing with rival auction house Christie’s global Plc, which was locked in a months-long battle with Sotheby’s to auction the prized collection.

Mr Taubman’s leadership of Sotheby’s helped revive its fortunes after a number of years of decline.