Record-Breaking Sales for Kahn and Mason at Christie’s

NEW YORK, NY - MILES McENERY GALLERY is pleased to announce results for Christie’s “Fields of Vision: The Private Collection of Artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason”. The auction included an online sale that took place from 6 May - 20 May 2021, with a dedicated live sale on 18 May 2021.

The late Kahn and Mason were represented by Miles McEnery Gallery until their recent passing—Mason in December 2019 followed by Kahn in March 2020. Miles McEnery Gallery represents both artist foundations and hosted the first posthumous New York solo gallery exhibitions for Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason in Winter 2021.

“Fields of Vision” comprised the couple’s private collection of Modern, Post-War, and Contemporary paintings, works on paper, prints, and sculptures. Mason and Kahn both found inspiration throughout their prolific careers from the artists whose work they collected, many of whom were also friends and artistic peers of the couple. Lots on view included works by Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt, Pierre Bonnard, Georgia O’Keeffe, Richard Diebenkorn, and Robert Motherwell.

The two-week online sale and 18 May dedicated live sale featured 117 lots and amounted to a total of $8,712,000 USD. The live sale took place alongside Christie’s American Art Week and featured highlights from the collection, with record-breaking results for both Kahn and Mason. Emily Mason’s 56 x 52 inch oil painting Aquifer, 2010, realized the record price of $93,750 (over six times its high estimate), and Wolf Kahn’s 43 x 73 inch oil painting Down East Sunset I, 1997, realized the record price of $206,250 USD (nearly three times its high estimate).

“We are elated. Aquifer is an iconic painting, made in the last decade of Emily’s life and this milestone sale brings a deserved new visibility to her work. Selling this piece, along with Kahn’s record-setting Down East Sunset I and their personal art collection, is to say good bye to dear friends. However, with this farewell, we are now able to continue their vision to welcome and support the next generation of art and art institutions as they would have wanted,” remarked Steven R. Rose, President, Emily Mason | Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation.

Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Interim President of the Wolf Kahn | Emily Mason Foundation, additionally commented, “We are thrilled by the auction results - especially for the record prices set for works by Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason. In their life together, Kahn and Mason were generous to causes they supported as well as to other artists. They collected and lived with artwork by friends and artists whom they admired. Christie’s auction turns their treasures into resources for both Foundations to uphold their legacies and to continue supporting cultural organizations and artists.”

Proceeds from “Fields of Vision: The Private Collection of Artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason” will benefit the Wolf Kahn | Emily Mason Foundation and the Emily Mason | Alice Trumbull Mason Foundation, preserving their artistic vision through exhibitions, research, and philanthropy.