Sotheby’s to Sell Wingate Collection Led by Giacometti Estimate Up to $25 Million
A collection assembled over roughly seven decades by David and Shoshanna Wingate will come to market at Sotheby’s in New York and London on May 19 and 20, with more than 50 works estimated to bring between $37 million and $53 million. The group spans modern and contemporary art, with names that map a broad 20th-century arc: Alberto Giacometti, Wassily Kandinsky, Roy Lichtenstein, Kenneth Noland, Mark Rothko, Varvara Stepanova, and Pablo Picasso.
At the center of the sale is Giacometti’s La Clairière (Composition avec neuf figures), conceived in 1950 and cast in 1960. Sotheby’s has placed an estimate of $18 million to $25 million on the work, which could represent as much as half the collection’s total value. Another Giacometti, Buste d’homme (New York I), is estimated at $2 million to $3 million.
Mark Rothko’s Untitled (ca. 1959) is another key lot, carrying a $5 million to $7 million estimate. The oil on paper mounted on canvas, with its three stacked bands of softened color, was bought by the Wingates at Sotheby’s Parke Bernet in London in 1976. It also appeared in the first exhibition devoted to Rothko’s paintings on paper, a 1984–86 presentation that began at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and traveled to the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The Wingates’ collecting story began after they met dealer Edith Halpert and acquired works through her Downtown Gallery, including pieces by Ben Shahn, Abraham Rattner, and William Zorach. Over time, they widened their focus to major figures of the 20th century, buying from both American and European galleries. According to their son, Ealan Wingate, they acquired La Clairière at Galerie Maeght in Paris and Giacometti’s Léger at Galerie Louise Leiris.
David Wingate, born in Israel in 1921 and who died in 2011, was president of Hi-Shear Industries, an aerospace contractor. He began as a stamp collector and later moved into art and design, often favoring works centered on the human figure. He preferred auction buying for its immediacy, competition, and pricing clarity. Shoshanna Wingate, born in Syracuse, New York, was a sculptor and died in January at 104.
Their son, Ealan Wingate, became the first director of Ileana Sonnabend’s SoHo gallery in 1971, at age 23, later opened Koury Wingate, and then spent 35 years as a director at Gagosian Gallery. The auction now places a private family history into public view, revealing a collection shaped by patience, discernment, and a sustained interest in the shifting language of modern art.
