Barnes & Noble Founder’s Widow to Sell $250 Million Art Collection at Christie’s

The top lot is a rare painting by Piet Mondrian. Titled Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue (1922), it is considered Mondrian at his very best, according to Christie’s: “A distillation of his iconic visual language of black lines and primary colors that inspired a century of creativity.” The intimately sized work was displayed in the grand vestibule of the Riggio’s Park Avenue apartment, where it greeted guests for decades.

The grouping for sale also features two striking Surrealist paintings by René Magritte, including the first ever work from the prized series of L’empire des lumières, and Les droits de l’hommes. Other artworks of note include a 1937 Pablo Picasso portrait of trailblazing photographer Lee Miller and three Alberto Giacometti sculptures, including Femme de Venise I and Andy Warhol’s Last Supper from his later years.

“This is tough for me to say goodbye to old friends, but I will not put them in storage,” she said of the works, as reported by the New York Times. “They need to be seen.”

Christie’s won the collection after a bidding war with Sotheby’s. “It is an honor to be entrusted with this inimitable collection, a tribute to Leonard and Louise Riggio and their enduring legacy as patrons of the arts and passionate collectors” says Bonnie Brennan, Christie’s new Chief Executive Officer. “Each artwork included in this encyclopedic collection is exemplary, demonstrating the Riggios’ deep appreciation for human creativity.”

Leonard “Len” Riggio was born in Manhattan and grew up in Brooklyn and fell in love with the world of books early on. After a brief stint at NYU, he founded his own bookstore, Student Book Exchange (SBX), which became well known in New York in the 1960s, with Leonard welcoming students in to print anti-war leaflets. In 1971, he took a loan to purchase Barnes & Noble. His idea was to democratize the concept of bookstores, where customers could have a place to stay and read with refreshments. It became the largest bookstore in the world.

The Riggios art collecting journey kicked off in the 1990s, reportedly when Leonard came across Richard Serra’s Torqued Ellipses at Dia: Chelsea. According to Christie’s, Len was drawn to contemporary objects while Louise’s preferences are more historical. Blending their tastes over the course of 30 years, the powerhouse couple assembled a fascinating collection. While they are perhaps most known for their large-scale and minimalist works (the couple were major supporters of the Dia Art Foundation and the couple’s home in Bridgehampton featured one of Richard Serra’s largest outdoor sculptures,) the works at Christie’s offer a more intimate view of the Riggios art; the art they lived with everyday.