Gagosian To Sell Michael Chow's Art Collection Featuring Warhol, Basquiat, Hockney

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Gagosian will present“Friends and Legends: The Collection of Michael Chow,” an exhibition of 11 works from the restaurateur's personal collection, including portraits of Chow by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Keith Haring, and Julian Schnabel. The gallery will not disclose prices for the works, nor did Chow provide a reason for the sale.

The exhibition will open on November 4 at Gagosian's Beverly Hills gallery for a four-day run. It will then move to the gallery's new headquarters at 980 Madison Avenue in New York, opening on November 14 and continuing through December 22. This second installment coincides with New York's fall auction season.

Chow opened his first Mr. Chow restaurant in London's Knightsbridge in 1968, followed by Beverly Hills in 1974 and New York in 1979. These establishments became gathering places for the international art world, fostering friendships between Chow, an artist himself, and prominent contemporary artists. Many of these relationships resulted in portraits that have adorned his restaurants for decades. Larry Gagosian has been a patron of Mr. Chow for over 30 years, noting their longer friendship.

“It's hard to think of a restaurant more synonymous with the art world than Mr. Chow,” Gagosian said in a statement. Works on offer include Ed Ruscha's Mr. Chow L.A. ( 1973 ), painted with kitchen ingredients, and Haring's Mr. Chow as Green Prawns in a Bowl of Noodles ( 1986 ). Warhol's Portrait of Michael Chow ( 1984 ) features diamond dust across two panels, while another Warhol work, a 1959 folding screen with a dessert drawing, was displayed in the Beverly Hills restaurant.

Basquiat's 1985 portrait of Chow took an unexpected turn during the sitting.“I sat for Jean-Michel,” Chow recalled in the announcement,“He made this powerful image and then ferociously painted over the picture without looking at me or the canvas.” Other portraits are by Peter Blake, Hockney, and Schnabel, with Schnabel incorporating broken plates from the restaurant into his piece. An Urs Fischer candle sculpture will also be included.

Additionally, an Artist Drawing Book, filled with drawings and inscriptions by guests over the years, will be featured. Contributors include Francis Bacon, Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, Louise Nevelson, Francesco Clemente, and Mark Grotjahn. Chow stated,“Art and artists have been at the heart of my life,” adding that sharing these treasures has brought him“great joy.” He offered a theatrical explanation for the sale:“Now, it's time to see them go out into the world and have my fifteen minutes.”

Source: ARTnews

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