Billionaires Behind Shanghai’s Long Museum to Sell Works from Their Collection at Sotheby’s

Billionaire collectors Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei, the founders of Shanghai’s Long Museum, will sell an estimated $150 million worth of art this auction season at Sotheby’s.

Founded in 2012, the Long Museum has become a major player in the Shanghai art scene. It was initially based in the West Bund district of Shanghai, and has since opened a second location in the city’s Pudong neighborhood. It now also operates a space in Chongqing.

Dates for the Sotheby’s sale, which was first reported by Artnet News on Tuesday, have not yet been announced.

Liu and Wang have become well-known, both within and beyond the art world, for acquired highly priced works such as Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu couché (Reclining Nude) and Paulette Jourdain (1919), which fetched $170.4 million and $42.8 million, respectively, in separate auctions in 2015.

According to Artnet, works by Jenny Saville and Kerry James Marshall are among the works that are being considering for sale. Between 50 and 60 works will be sold.

In June 2016, the museum acquired Jenny Saville’s painting Shift (1996–97) for then-record price of $9.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction. The same year, the Long Museum was the buyer of a 1992 painting by Kerry James Marshall at Christie’s in New York. The work, titled Plunge, sold for $2.1 million, breaking the artist’s record at the time.

Artnet reported that the couple approached executives and specialists for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips to pitch proposals to sell works of contemporary and modern art from the holdings. The reason for the sale is still unknown.

It is uncommon on the auction circuit for collectors who are so major and so active to sell works from their holdings at auction.

Sotheby’s did not immediately respond to ARTnews’s inquiry on whether the sale is linked to any financial strain. A representative for the Long Museum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Liu, whose wealth derives from the Sunline Group, a pharmaceuticals, real estate and financial services holding company, began collecting in the mid-1990s. He and his wife have since built a reputation as two of Asia’s most high-profile collectors; he is now said to be worth an estimated $5 billion.

Since the museum’s opening more than a decade ago, the pair’s profile rose as a private museum boom hit China. Their museum has mounted major exhibitions featuring contemporary artists like Olafur Eliasson and James Turrell.

Sotheby’s has said that funds from the planned sales will go toward initiatives at the museum, which plans to remain open. The house said that works by contemporary and historical artists will be sold but has not disclosed specifics of the consignment deal.