On May 18, Christie’s offered bidders a rare opportunity to own the collection of two important modern painters and the results produced an astonishing $8.1 million across just 26 lots. In addition to high sales total, Fields of Vision: The Private Collection of Artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason had a 96 percent sell-through rate, with all but one work finding a new home. 
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), Autumn Leaf with White Flower, 1926. Oil on canvas, 20 x 9 in. Estimate: $3/5 million SOLD: $4.95 million
Georgia O’Keeffe’s 1926 oil Autumn Leaf with White Flower was the top lot, coming in at $4.95 million, a whisper away from its $5 million high estimate. Kahn and Mason acquired it in 1977 in celebration of Kahn’s successful solo show at Grace Borgenicht Gallery in New York.
Coming in behind the O’Keeffe work was Richard Diebenkorn’s 1957 abstracted still life Cups II. The work had been given a $700,000 high estimate, but ended up selling for double that when it closed at $1.47 million. The work hung next to Kahn’s New York City desk for more than five decades. 
Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993), Cups II, 1957. Oil on canvas, 205/8 x 24 in., signed with the artist’s initials and dated lower left: ‘RD 57’; signed, titled and dated again on the reverse: ‘R Diebenkorn Cups II 1957’. Estimate: $500/700,000 SOLD: $1.47 million
Milton Avery (1885-1965), Interior with Yellow Lamp, 1949. Oil on canvasboard, 16 x 20 in., signed and dated lower right: ‘Milton/Avery 1949’. Estimate: $120/180,000 SOLD: $362,500
The sale also featured two appropriate world auction records for, none other than, Kahn and Mason. Kahn’s piece, Down East Sunset I, shows a harbor scene bathed in orange light and reflections on the water. The work had a high estimate of $70,000, but closed at $206,250. Mason’s record was set by Aquifer, an abstract expressionist piece showing blue forms merging in a sort of tidal surge. The piece had a high estimate of $15,000. It sold for more than six times that amount, at $93,750.
Wolf Kahn (1927-2020), Down East Sunset #1, 1997. Oil on canvas, 52 x 72 in., signed lower right: ‘W. Kahn’ and signed again on the reverse. Artist World Aucton Record. Estimate: $50/70,000 SOLD: $206,250
Emily Mason (1932-2019), Aquifer, 2010. Oil on canvas, 56 x 52 in. Artist World Auction Record. Estimate: $10/15,000 SOLD: $93,750
“Christie’s is delighted to achieve such strong results for Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason’s very personal art collection, notably led by the fantastic Georgia O’Keeffe painting Autumn Leaf with White Flower and Richard Diebenkorn’s early still life Cups II,” says Christie’s American art specialist Paige Kestenman. “We are particularly honored to have reset the world auction records for both Kahn and Mason within this context, deservedly elevating this extraordinary artist couple within the pantheon of great 20th-century painters.”
Kestenman adds that proceeds from the sale, as well as an online component, would benefit the Wolf
Kahn | Emily Mason Foundation and the Emily Mason | Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation.
Other highlights in the sale include Milton Avery’s Interior with Yellow Lamp (est. $120/180,000) that sold for $362,500, Hans Hofmann’s Bouquet (est. $30/50,000) at $97,500, and two untitled works by Lee Bontecou that achieved a combined total of $425,000. —
Top 10 sales
Christie’s, Fields of Vision: The Private Collection of Artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason, May 18, 2021 (including buyer’s premium)
Artist Title Low/High ESt. SOLD
Georgia O’Keeffe Autumn Leaf with White Flower $3/5 million $4.95 m
Richard Diebenkorn Cups II $500/700,000 $1.47 m
Milton Avery Interior with Yellow Lamp $120/180,000 $362,500
Lee Bontecou Untitled $180/250,000 $275,000
Wolf Kahn Down East Sunset I $50/70,000 $206,250
Lee Bontecou Untitled $120/180,000 $150,000
Richard Diebenkorn Untitled $80/120,000 $106250
Hans Hofmann Bouquet $30/50,000 $97,500
Emily Mason Aquifer $10/15,000 $93,750
Henri Matisse Vase de fleurs $40/60,000 $56,250
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