Upcoming Fine Art Auction to Benefit Nina Simone Childhood Home Preservation Project

This upcoming Sotheby’s sale highlights work by global contemporary artists and will benefit the Nina Simone Childhood Home preservation project. Julie Mehretu’s New Dawn, Sing (for Nina) leads the auction. This deeply abstract composition was made by the artist this year. The ink and acrylic on canvas plays with the elements of architecture, landscape, and figuration. Mehretu, an Ethiopian American visual artist, graduated from Kalamazoo College, Michigan (1992). Five years later, she earned an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (1997). 

One of Rashid Johnson’s ‘Bruise Paintings’ is also available. The oil-on-linen work titled Nina’s Blues is rendered in deep blue oil paint spread and layered smoothly across the surface. It depicts grids with repeated motifs and a color palette ranging from light blue to almost black. The American artist started making a series of Bruise paintings in 2021. On Bruise paintings, Johnson has said, “They were cathartic, not simple — but every time I made them I felt alive, and unburdened.” Also available are artworks by artists such as Robert Longo, Cecily Brown, Mary Weatherford, and Stanley Whitney. In addition to online bidding, all works will be available to view in person at Pace Gallery in New York from May 12 to 20, 2023. Interested collectors can explore the complete auction catalog on Sotheby’s auction and register to bid in the upcoming Nina Simone Childhood Home: Benefit Auction Co-Presented by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and Pace Gallery | Hosted by Sotheby’s sale.