News Articles Library Event Photos Contact Search


Wednesday, 04 December 2013 18:00

Christie’s Appraises Detroit’s Art Collection

The Detroit Institute of Arts. The Detroit Institute of Arts.

Christie’s announced that Detroit’s art collection, which is housed in the Detroit Institute of Arts, is worth between $452 million and $886 million. The auction house was hired by the city’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, to put a price tag on 2,781 works owned by the city after Detroit filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

The city’s artworks represent about 5% of the Detroit Institute’s holdings, but 11 of the pieces on display at the museum account for 75% of the appraised collection’s total value. Christie’s plans to propose five alternatives to selling the works, which include masterpieces by Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse and Pieter Bruegel, that would still allow the city to make a profit off of the treasures.

The city of Detroit is currently over $18 billion in debt.

 

Additional Info

  • Category: News
Events