Featured Image: Works by Ed Ruscha, Martin Kippenberger and Wade Guyton offered in May 2025 in the 20th/21st Century Marquee Week at Christie's New York. Works by Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst and Gabriel Orozco offered in October 2025 in the 20th/21st Century Marquee Week at Christie's London. Works by Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouve, Serge Mou ii le, Georges Jouve and George Nakashima offered in May 2025 in Design at Christie's Paris

NEW YORK— Christie’s is delighted to announce For Art’s Sake: Selected Works by Tiqui Atencio & Ago Demirdjian, a magnificent series of sales that will be offered at Christie’s throughout 2025, featuring the finest in contemporary art and design. The sale series will begin during Spring Marquee Week with a group of 15 exemplary artworks owned by the trustees of Mayfair Oeuvres d’Art Ltd and Artapar Ltd and selected by Tiqui Atencio and Ago Demirdjian. Representing a diverse group of artists from the post-war and contemporary era including Carmen Herrera, Cecily Brown, Ed Ruscha, Julie Mehretu, and Roni Horn, the selection will headline the 21st Century Evening Sale taking place at Rockefeller Center in New York this May. Subsequent sales of design and art will follow at Christie’s Paris and London.

Tiqui Atencio remarks, “It is a true pleasure to see these auctions come to life! Ago and I are thrilled to share these treasured objects with the world that have inspired and delighted us for years. From Ed Ruscha to Cecily Brown, the artworks brought so much joy into our lives. While it’s hard to say goodbye, we are excited to bring them to Christie’s and watch as they embark on their next chapter.”

Ana Maria Celis, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christie’s New York, remarks, “Tiqui Atencio is a tastemaker unlike any other. Her approach to art combines rigorous passion with studied connoisseurship, which is reflected in the books she has written and every object within her home. We are thrilled to have been entrusted with this group of art carefully selected by Tiqui and Ago, with many strong examples by female artists and Latin American artists, and we look forward to presenting them to our clients globally this spring.”

The group is led by two paintings created in 1999: Ed Ruscha’s Blast Curtain (estimate: $4,000,000 – 6,000,000) and Cecily Brown’s Bedtime Stories (estimate: $4,000,000 – 6,000,000). Additional highlights include canvases by Elizabeth Peyton ($800,000 – 1,200,000) and Julie Mehretu (estimate: $3,000,000 – 5,000,000) and a wonderful group of sculptures, with a 2007 glass cast by Roni Horn (estimate: $700,000 – $1,000,000), a work by Louise Bourgeois (estimate: $600,000 – 800,000) and a wonderful example by Lygia Clark dating to 1960 – the earliest work in the group (estimate: $400,000 – 600,000).  

Tiqui and Ago are among the world’s most important and influential collectors of Latin American and contemporary art. Originally from Venezuela, Tiqui has been immersed in art from a young age, with her studies at esteemed art institutions taking her to North America, South America, and Europe. Her lifelong passion for art and collecting has culminated in her authorship of several books on the subject, most recently including For Art’s Sake: Inside the Homes of Art Dealers a look at the personal collections of the world’s most prestigious gallerists. Ago Demirdjian is a successful entrepreneur and a generous patron of the arts. He began his collecting journey with a focus on modern art, primarily cubism. Through his partnership with Tiqui, his taste evolved—he became more interested in contemporary art. The couple, who met in Paris in the 1980s, have become instrumental figures in the international art scene and over the course of the last four decades, have established a lasting global legacy as visionary collectors and wonderful philanthropists.

(Press Release)