Sotheby's will bring the celebrated collection assembled by Ted and Ruth Baum to auction, with an overall estimate exceeding $100 million. Spanning more than 130 works, the collection traces a distinctive dialogue between postwar American creativity and European abstraction.
A Cross-Continental View of Modern Art
The selection includes significant works by Mark Rothko, Ed Ruscha, Joan Mitchell, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein and Piero Manzoni. A 1967 Rothko work on paper and Ruscha's Dimple are each expected to achieve $10 million to $15 million.
Other key offerings include works by Burri, Fontana and Andy Warhol, each carrying estimates of $4 million to $6 million. The Baums' approach connected artists across movements, placing American Pop Art and Abstract Expressionism alongside influential European experiments in material, color and space.
Sales Schedule
A dedicated evening auction on November 16 will feature around two dozen works, followed by a day sale on November 17. Additional pieces from the collection will be presented through Sotheby's sales calendar in the year ahead.
The collection began with a drawing acquired at a charity auction in the 1970s and evolved through decades of focused discovery. The Baums later added works by artists including Pablo Picasso, Fernand Léger, Sam Francis and Hans Hofmann, developing a collection shaped by curiosity, research and a personal response to art.
Their Rothko acquisition in 1983 became a defining moment, opening a new chapter in their collecting. Their holdings also reflect a lasting commitment to cultural institutions, including support for contemporary art initiatives at the Norton Museum of Art.
The Baum collection illustrates how individual vision can build meaningful connections across artistic eras, offering a model for future collectors to engage with art as both cultural history and living inspiration.
