On May 11th, 2010, works from the collection of Michael Crichton will go up for auction at Christie’s in New York. Who knew? The writer of such classics like Jurassic Park and The Lost World had also been a devoted art collector since the early 70s. Among some of the 31 lots are works by Jasper Johns, Pablo Picasso, Anges Martin, and Roy Lichenstein. He was also into the more contemporary artists like Jeff Koons and Richard Prince. He was known for his desire to understand the artist and felt that in some way he was connecting with the struggles of the artist through the purchasing of their work. His own talent was one of quiet seclusion and introspection, so it should come as no surprise that after great success Crichton would enrich his surroundings. But it still does. You never know about those Hollywood types.

Two years after his death, all the works are quite valuable. There are two $7.5m Picasso’s and a $15m Jasper Johns Flag. Should be an interesting auction, and just two years after…

So, in my continuing series on potential purchases in a post-lottery win state of mind, I’m adding some additional art to my unbuilt home(s). This one could be a bit early, seeing as how the lottery drawing and the auction are on the same night, however buying millions of dollars worth of art before you have the money pretty much as “the secret” as it gets.

Tomorrow night’s Impressionist/Modern evening sale at Christie’s in New York has quite the piece, an Alberto Giacometti sculpture, Le Main from 1947. It measures 28 inches long and would be a great addition to the Paris apartment, for an estimate of $10m – 15m. Jean-Paul Sartre gave some words for the introduction to Giacometti’s exhibition catalogue in which this piece was displayed back in 1948, style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #FFFACD">“I can consider separately from the tree itself this wavering branch,” wrote Jean-Paul Sartre, “but I cannot think of an arm rising, a fist closing, apart from a human agent. A man raises his arm, a man clenches his fist; man is the indissoluble unity and the absolute source of his movements.”

Jean-Paul Satre

There’s a lot of great information in the lot for the auction. It continues on with the work’s provenance and notes about the piece and the period of Giacometti’s life that the work was created in.

A bronze cast of La Main was included in this show. The hand is our prime intermediary between the mind and the world, it allows thought to act upon and transform the world. The outstretched hand expresses the human need to grasp, to reach out towards the world and to aspire within it; the hand enables us to realize our potential in accomplishing all things. In the face of another, the hand may embrace in love or ward off in fear, extend itself in joy or lamentation. No part of the human body, except for the head itself, is a more potent symbol for the totality of the human endeavor. Giacometti’s La Main, as fragile as it may appear, carries the emotional and symbolic weight of all these gestures.

The accelerating evolution in Giacometti’s work during the years 1945-1947 stemmed from a sequence of hallucinatory revelations that the sculptor experienced as he reintegrated himself within the cosmopolitan life of Paris, as the city emerged from the deep nightmarish sleep of the Occupation and, amid continuing privations, slowly returned to life during the years following the Liberation. These epiphanies reveal the ways in which the inner life of the artist’s mind contended with the reality of the outer world and the circumstances of his existence. They trace a continuation of the pre-war surrealist impulse in the sculptor’s life and work.

Alberto Giacometti with Le Main among others.

It could be a little bit much for my budget but I’m thinking about dipping into some contemporary auctions, and bidding on some without the million+ price tag. But this work would truly be a pleasure to wake up to everyday.

This particular auction has one other piece by Giacometti, Torse de femme, conceived in 1932. The lot notes for this piece have Peggy Guggenheim all throughout.

In 1960, Peggy Guggenheim, at the incentive of the dealer Alexandre Iolas, decided to continue the edition of Walking Woman II and commissioned Bianchi to make five more casts.5 Giacometti authorized these casts, even though Paolo Barozzi in his memoirs claimed that Giacometti had not been consulted and was irate.6 The casts are invoiced in April 1960. In May 1961, a seventh bronze cast (numbered 0) was made for Alberto Giacometti to give to a friend. An eighth cast was made in July 1969 at the foundry which had been bought in the meantime by Stefan-Costi in Trevisa. This cast, done without the authorization of Annette Giacometti from the original plaster, was later accepted by her among the legal edition as a tribute to the old friendship between her husband and Peggy Guggenheim.

Peggy Guggenheim with Piazza by Giacometti and Picasso’s On the Beach (La Baignade).

For three days in the April of 1996, the belongings of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis where put on display for interested bidders to see. A total of 1195 lots in all were put up for auction including her jewelry, art collection, furniture, private letters and memoirs, clothing and even her green BMW. If you weren’t lucky enough to snag a piece of Jackie O, the nearly 600 page Sotheby’s catalogue was a nice enough gift. Filled with images and commentary about Jackie’s life and her belongings, the catalogue is something to be treasured. I found one in a used bookshop on the Upper East Side in Manhattan and was initially drawn to its connection to someone’s things. It isn’t her life at all but in some ways it’s all most people ever knew about Jackie. Her dress, her pearls, her art and the china they ate off of when they came for a dinner at her house.

So I didn’t win the $244 million lottery last night. But, the good news is, nobody else did either! So it’s now up to $266 million dollars for Tuesday night’s drawing. I’ve decided to take the idea of “The Secret” to a whole new level with, Things I could, maybe would, buy if I won the lottery. Firstly, after some calculations I’ve discovered that the total take home post-tax, post-lump sum option for a prize of $266 would be somewhere around $115m. Here’s some ideas about where all that cheeze could go, post-charity of course.

Before I bought a house I would have to buy art, to know how big the house needs to be. I’d sit front row at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale on May 12th in New York, eagerly awaiting Lot number 15.

WILLEM DE KOONING (1904 – 1997)
Sagamore

signed

oil, enamel and charcoal on paper mounted on board
22 1/2 x 28 in. 57.2 x 71.1 cm.
Executed in 1955.

ESTIMATE 3,500,000 – 4,500,000 USD

Maybe a Donald Judd for the entry area. There’ll be a sweeping skylight above it, casting a natural glow. This one would have to be go inside the Paris apartment, of course.

DONALD JUDD (1928-1994)
Untitled, 1992 (92-7 HERNANDEZ)

Cor-ten steel and black Plexiglas in six units
each: 20 x 40 x 20 in. 50.8 x 101.6 x 50.8 cm. Overall: 240 x 40 x 20 in. 609.6 x 101.6 x 50.8 cm.
Executed in 1992, this work is stamped 92-7 Judd by Hernandez on the reverse of each unit.

ESTIMATE 2,000,000 – 3,000,000 USD

For the Los Angeles estate, I’d definitely be interested in purchasing lot no. 313 from the day sale.

FLORIAN MAIER-AICHEN B. 1973

Untitled (FREEWAY CRASH)
signed and dated 2002 on a label affixed to the backing board

Cibachrome print
44 by 57 in. 111.8 by 144.8 cm.
Executed in 2002, this work is number 5 from an edition of 6 plus 2 artist’s proofs.

ESTIMATE 35,000 – 45,000 USD