Arts

Christie’s to Host Landmark Auction of Works from T. Boone Pickens Century Spanning Collection

The Sale Includes Western Masterpieces and the Entrepreneur's Beloved Rolex

By Billy Fong // Sep 16, 2020

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T. Boone Pickens

Yearning to channel your inner bazillionaire? Well, get your bid paddle ready for The Legend of the West: Iconic Works from the T. Boone Pickens Collection, a landmark auction of American Western art presented by Christie’s.

Famed as a larger-than-life personality, Pickens was born and reared in Holdenville, Oklahoma and excelled at business from an early age — he had a thriving newspaper route, which he often cited when describing his entrepreneurial spirit. After graduating from college, he had a stint with Phillips Petroleum before fulfilling his destiny as a Texas wildcatter. Later, he founded one of the country’s largest independent natural gas and oil companies, Mesa Petroleum.

During his lifetime, he donated more than $1 billion, making him one of the most generous philanthropists of his era. He was also a prolific art collector and amassed a sizable museum-worthy collection that encompasses an entire century of American art.

Works by N.C. Wyeth, Thomas Moran, Howard Terpning, and other renowned artists will be on the Christie’s auction block. The approximately 75 lots will undoubtedly exceed their $15 million estimate, given that masterpieces such as Frederic Remington’s oil painting The Signal (If Skulls Could Speak) is projected to go for $3 to $5 million. His philanthropy will go on via this auction, since a portion of the sales will benefit charity.

The Legend of the West: Iconic Works from the T. Boone Pickens Collection, October 28, 2020 at 12:00pm Christie’s New York, 20 Rockefeller Plaza, christies.com.