NEW YORK, NY.- Christie's will present the collection of Clive Davis, the legendary record executive who was instrumental in pioneering the landscape of American music for more than 60 years. Eight artworks from Mr. Davis's collection will headline the 20th Century Evening Sale, the premier event of November's Fall Marquee Week, with additional works in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale in November and in the Prints and Multiples sale in October.
Mr. Davis is widely considered the most significant and influential music executive of the 20th and early 21st centuries with a unique talent and an unrivaled “ear” for hits. He discovered, launched, influenced and extended the careers of many of the greatest contemporary music artists of the last 60 years, including: Bruce Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkel, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Janis Joplin, Barry Manilow, Carlos Santana, Patti Smith, Jennifer Hudson, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Earth Wind & Fire, Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart and the Grateful Dead. Largely unknown until now, Mr. Davis brought the same approach to discovering and fostering musical talent to the acquisition of visual artworks for his own personal collection. Just as he could appreciate genres as disparate as 60s folk rock and 2000s R&B, he instinctively felt an innate greatness in the best examples from the most important art movements during his lifetime—from leading Abstractionists to masters of Pop portraiture to icons of Neo-Expressionism. His collection is a heartfelt symposium of musical and rhythmic works by the best artists of the post-war and contemporary era, with masterpieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fernando Botero, Jean Dubuffet, David Hockney, Hans Hofmann, Alex Katz, Joan Mitchell, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, and more. Collectively, the group is expected to realize in excess of $35 million.
Akin to the relationships he developed with so many extraordinary musical artists over multiple decades, Mr. Davis built a deeply personal connection to visual art, following his instincts, always continuing to learn and, above all, enjoying the creativity of the artists. “I am extraordinarily passionate about art, and I am always learning about it,” Mr. Davis would say. “I spend hours going through auction house catalogs, reading about the artists and their work. I'm guided by what moves me, what I find beautiful, what I find exciting. The process of discovering something new always excites me.”
Sara Friedlander, Chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art, remarks: "Clive Davis had the unique ability to recognize and cultivate great talent in its most nascent phase. Through the generational musical voices that he nurtured, he created the soundtrack to all our lives, his legacy has been with us at all our greatest moments. This very discernment and prescience in his musical discoveries was equally applied in collecting fine art: the same instincts and intuition guided him to acquire numerous works by the most seminal visual artists of his generation. We are deeply honored to be offering this harmonious collection this fall at Christie's and play a small role in stewarding his inimitable legacy.”
Clive Davis was born in Brooklyn in 1932 and spent his childhood and early adulthood in New York. Talented and driven from a young age, he graduated from NYU at the top of his class then attended Harvard Law School on full scholarship. His professional path began first as a lawyer, working as assistant counsel at Columbia Records in the 1960s. Despite having no previous music background, he quickly found his home in the business and rose through the ranks, becoming president of the record label at the age of 35. After exiting the company in the 1970s, he combined his strong business acumen and work ethic with his incredible ear and founded Arista Records, which he remained president of for a quarter of a century. In 2000, he founded J Records, which over the course of a decade would merge with RCA, then Sony—all the while with Mr. Davis at the helm, skillfully navigating his artists through the ever-evolving landscape of the music industry. With tireless passion, he continued working at Sony Music Entertainment as chief creative officer until he passed away in 2026 at the age of 94.
Mr. Davis was a titan of the music world, whose immeasurable contributions to the industry cannot be overstated. He is the recipient of four Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. Mr. Davis's great legacy continues to live on through his loving children and grandchildren, in addition to numerous organizations and programs that have been named after him as a tribute to his deep generosity and philanthropic spirit. At NYU (his alma mater), The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at the Tisch School of the Arts commemorates his incomparable contributions to the program, and across the country, the Clive Davis Theater at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles is named in his honor. His eponymous Pre-Grammy Party is a legendary star-studded event held annually in Beverly Hills, bringing people together for a night of A-list performances while simultaneously raising funds for charity.
