Christie’s Is Hoping to Get $55M for a Little-Seen Cy Twombly Painting

Published: March 30, 2017 | By: American Luxury Staff

At the upcoming Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sale in New York, a special piece will be going on the block, one that has been in a private collection for almost three decades: Cy Twombly’s Leda and the Swan (1962).

The companion to one of the Museum of Modern Art’s most popular exhibits, the piece has never been to auction, and has only had two private owners. It’s estimated to sell for between $35 million to $55 million.

Leda and the Swan is a prime example of Twombly’s “blood and foam” style, which dominated his pieces until 1966. Recalling Leda’s seduction by Zeus, the rarely seen work of art is a combination of myth and eroticism.

If Leda and the Swan earns Christie’s high estimate at the final gavel, it will be the third-most expensive sale price of a Twombly work.

The sale takes place May 17.

2769 March 30, 2017 Art March 30, 2017