NEW YORK, NY.- Christies launched the full offering of From the Studio, a dedicated selection of 17 works, which have been generously donated by leading contemporary artists to benefit amfARs newly launched Fund to Fight COVID-19. This special grouping will be included in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day sale, which is taking place on July 10 in New York. From the Studio may be viewed
here.
Highlights from the sale include works that have been created in quarantine by artists including Eddie Martinez, Dana Schutz, Raymond Pettibon, Rashid Johnson, Kenny Scharf, Leelee Kimmel, Michael Kagen, and Erik Parker as well as previously announced works by Cecily Brown, Urs Fischer and George Condo.
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman of Artémis, remarked: It means a lot to me that Christies is joining forces with amfAR to raise vital funds for COVID-19 research. Christies has a long history of contributing to great causes through charitable auctions, while amfARs success in mobilizing celebrities and the fashion world in the fight against AIDS in recent decades speaks for itself. I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to the artists who have produced works for the occasion and to the leading collectors who have generously donated works of art. Salma and I are proud to support this exceptional event and we hope that it will help combat the new and urgent global threat from Covid-19.
In addition to the works of art, the Pinault family has generously donated a private dinner for 10 people at the famed Bourse de Commerce in Paris in early January 2021. The evening will include a guided tour with one of the directors of the museum before it opens to the public.
The Bourse de Commerce is a historic 18th century building located close to the Louvre that has recently been transformed by the famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando into a private exhibition space. It will feature exhibitions of visual arts from paintings to photography and video with a selection of works coming from the Pinault collection. The museum will also boast a restaurant by Michel and Sebastien Bras on the top floor.
The dinner will be offered via @Christiesinc Instagram account from Friday, July 10th, to Monday, July 13th and interested parties may submit their bid by emailing amfAR@christies.com.
We are deeply grateful to Christies, to the generous artists and to Salma and François-Henri Pinault for making this extraordinary auction possible, said Kevin Robert Frost, amfARs chief executive officer. Proceeds from the auction will give a much-needed boost to efforts to develop effective treatments for COVID-19, which continues to pose a grave threat to communities across the United States and around the world.
With the detection of the first cases of the new coronavirus in the U.S. in January came the stark realization that no country was immune to this new pandemic. HIV researchers, many of them amfAR grantees, swung into action. Their expertise and experience thrust them almost instantly onto the front lines of research to combat this deadly new virus: virology, immunology, epidemiology, vaccine development, public health. With 35 years of experience and expertise in precisely this kind of research, amfAR joined the fray with the launch of a new Fund to Fight COVID-19.
Over the course of 35 years, amfAR has earned a reputation as an uncommonly nimble grant-maker that can rapidly respond to emerging research findings and questions. amfAR will apply this same speed and flexibility in identifying and filling gaps in COVID-19 research, helping to accelerate the search for effective treatments and a vaccine. From the Studio will raise critical funds to support this research.