Lehman Brothers To Auction Partial Collection at Freeman's

Lindsay Pollack reporting for Bloomberg states that Lehman Brothers, the bankrupt investment bank will sell 650 lots at Freeman's Auction house in Philadelphia. The sale is expected to raise $1 million through a series of 3 sales during the winter auction season. The full Lehman collection is said to total over 3,000 pieces of art.

Pollack reports Lehman is shedding 650 lots, projected to fetch a total of $1 million. They include modern and contemporary paintings, prints and drawings, along with a smaller group of American and European paintings and prints from Lehman’s New York, Boston and Delaware offices. Sales are scheduled for Nov. 1, Dec. 6 and Feb. 12, 2010.

“We tried to price things consistent with what they will bring in the current market,’’ said Anne Henry, Freeman’s vice president of modern and contemporary works of art. “There’s a lot of really attractive work at affordable levels.’’

Lehman filed the biggest U.S. bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008. Proceeds from art sales will benefit creditors. Lehman Chief Executive Officer Bryan Marsal has said the firm owes as much as $250 billion. (In the beginning of July, Lehman began selling on EBay Inc. items originally produced as freebies for clients and employees.)

Pollack continues “People may see this sale as an opportunity,’’ said Palmer, who said the Lehman name wouldn’t have a big impact. “The provenance isn’t a negative thing,’’ she said. “But I don’t think it has much to add.’’

Lehman hired New Hampshire-based art consultant Kelly Wright in January to inspect artworks at several Lehman offices and storage facilities and recommend a selling strategy.

Freeman’s, a 200-year-old regional auction house in Philadelphia, holds more than 30 sales a year. It competed for the consignment against other auction houses, according to Lehman spokeswoman Kimberly Macleod.

Lehman owns more than 3,000 artworks, and some of those aren’t being sold, such as art that hung in Lehman’s New York headquarters. The building is now occupied by Barclays Plc, which acquired Lehman along with a one-year option to buy the art. That option expires in September.

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