A Georgia O'Keeffe landscape forgotten in a New York closet
· BehindLines newsroom
A Georgia O'Keeffe painting from 1930, "Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I", has resurfaced in New York after decades in a closet. Christie's is offering it in its 20th Century Evening Sale on 17 November, with an estimate of about three million dollars, according to the sites 6sqft and Galerie. It is on free view at Rockefeller Plaza from 7 to 17 November.
A family discovery
According to 6sqft, the owner's niece found it. The owner, an elderly woman who has since died and who is described as very private, had hung the work in her East Village apartment until the mid-1980s, then put it back in its original box at the back of a closet. Galerie adds that she hid it behind coats after a guest seemed to look at it too closely. During a visit, the owner reportedly told her niece there was "a Georgia O'Keeffe in the closet".
A documented provenance
Both sites report that the owner's mother bought the canvas for $3,800 at the Downtown Gallery on 51st Street, from the artist's New York dealer, in 1963, and then gave it to her daughter. The family wishes to remain anonymous. Galerie says the work is believed to be the first of three versions of the same landscape; the second is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the third in a private collection.
What Christie's says
Tylee Abbott, an American art specialist at Christie's, calls the painting, according to both articles, a wonderful work, a remarkable story and an extraordinary opportunity for collectors, and, according to Galerie, for the general public too. The free display is part of the house's New York Marquee Week.
For admirers of the artist, it is a rare chance to see a work that had never been shown in public before this week. The articles do not say who will buy it or at what price it will go: the sale takes place on 17 November.