DENVER, COLORADO.-The Denver Art Museum’s Alliance for Contemporary Art (AFCA) present “Oktober (LOVE) Fiesta,” an auction of 96 artworks from the former collection of the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO). The auction will be held on Saturday, October 22 at the Colorado History Museum, with registration, cocktails, and a silent auction beginning at 5 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m., and a live auction at 8:15 p.m. The art will be auctioned by Andrea Fiuczynski, president of Christie’s Los Angeles office and its principal auctioneer. Tickets are $75 per person, and can be purchased by calling 720-913-0150.

ARCO was well known for its strong support of the arts. Its renowned art gallery, the ARCO Center for the Visual Arts, mounted critically acclaimed exhibitions. Important works of contemporary art filled the offices of ARCO’s numerous buildings from Los Angeles to Philadelphia to Anchorage, including their offices in Denver. Former Bauhaus artist Herbert Bayer was responsible for ARCO’s vast art holdings; the collection grew to be one of the great corporate collections in America.

Among the art in this auction will be works by renowned artists such as: Dan Christensen, who has had more than 60 solo exhibitions and whose paintings are represented in important museums and private collections in the United States and abroad. He has won numerous awards, including a National Endowment Grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship Theodora Award. His paintings are a part of major national and international museum collections, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Denver Art Museum.

Allan D’Archangelo, who received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and whose works are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Denver Art Museum, and in private collections world-wide.

Gene Davis, who exhibited at the Charles Cowles gallery in New York and whose works are included in the collections of several of the most important art museums in the world, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and the Denver Art Museum.

Michael Heizer is among the foremost Land artists and has exhibited at the Venice Biennale. His work has been featured at major exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Denver Art Museum.

Dennis Oppenheim, an American pioneer of Land art and Body art, whose work has been featured at the Venice Biennale and is also represented in the Denver Art Museum’s collection.

The “Oktober(Love)Fiesta” is named for the Mexican fare that will be offered, courtesy of Mezcal Restaurant, and the Love theme AFCA has used in all their past auctions. The works being auctioned carry values ranging in price from $400 to $18,000, with a median price range of $1,000 to $1,400. Proceeds from the auction will support new acquisitions and departmental activities in the Denver Art Museum’s modern and contemporary art department.

The Alliance for Contemporary Art (AFCA), a support group for the Denver Art Museum, was established in 1978 to promote the appreciation and enjoyment of contemporary art among its members and other members of the Museum and the adult public. AFCA programs give art enthusiasts the opportunity to meet significant artists represented in the Museum’s collection; discover our region’s prominent artists in intimate settings; keep abreast of the latest artists, trends and issues in contemporary art; and through the travel program explore new art throughout the world. AFCA also raises funds, through lively and unusual special events, for the acquisition of new works for the museum’s modern and contemporary art collection.