Hollywood Break-up Leads to Major Christie's Auction

Nancy Goliger, an executive of creative advertising at Paramount, and Bruce Berman, CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures, have been building a photography collection since 1991 — commissioning emerging artists to travel and take pictures.

Now that they're divorcing, about 500 works by artists including Diane Arbus, William Eggleston and Walker Evans are heading to auction at Christie’s in New York, starting in April.

The New York Times reports:

The task for the Christie’s experts is how best to sell 500 photographs. “People tend to think that selling so many photographs floods the market and depresses prices, but auction history indicates just the opposite happens,” said Joshua Holdeman, international director of Christie’s photography department.

Rather than sell them all at once, however, Christie’s plans to hold three different sales: one limited to works by Diane Arbus, in April; another of images by William Eggleston, scheduled for October; and a third offering a selection of photographers — from Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange to younger artists with less well-known names — planned for 2009.

Together the three sales are estimated to bring $7 million to $10 million. “It’s a truly American collection that goes from the Depression era to artists who are alive and working today,” Mr. Holdeman said.