Displaying items by tag: unicef

A portrait by Jean-Honoré Fragonard of a French general fetched nearly $30 million, a world record price for the artist, at an auction held on December 5 at Bonhams in London. The works offered were provided by Unicef Germany and had been a part of what was once one of Europe’s largest private art collections. The entire sale garnered $31 million for the charity.

The works belonged to Dr. Gustav Rau, a German philanthropist and doctor who donated his collection to Unicef in 2001. For over a decade the collection has been embroiled in legal battles as some believe that Rau, who died in 2002, was not mentally fit during the time of the transaction. While the most recent court case deemed the transfer legitimate, Swiss authorities are currently reviewing the deal after a complaint was filed by the council in the district of Bülach, where the collection was once stored.

Unicef expects to net $161 million this year thanks to a series of sales from Rau’s collection.   

The London branches of Sotheby’s and Bonhams will join forces with the Cologne-based auction house, Lempertz, to sell off works from the late Gustav Rau’s (1922-2002) vast collection. Rau, a well-known art collector and philanthropist, passed away suddenly in 2002, leaving his remarkable collection to Unicef’s German branch. Rau’s holdings, which include many Old Master and Impressionist paintings and sculptures, were estimated to be worth around $600 million at the time of the bequest.

While Unicef has sold a number of Rau’s works to fund ongoing projects over the years, this is the first time a significant portion of the collection has come up for sale. The auction, which is planned to take place this summer, will feature works by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), El Greco (1541-1614), and Claude Monet (1840-1926) among many others. The works are all in pristine condition as Rau either left his collection in storage or offered them to museums for exhibition purposes rather than hanging them in his own home.

All proceeds from the sales will benefit children’s causes, specifically in emerging countries. Rau, who spent much of his life working as a doctor in Africa, was a champion of clean drinking water initiatives and better vaccination practices in developing areas. Unicef plans to use a large portion of the funds to finish a children’s hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that Rau founded before his death.