A Warhol portrait he loved so much he hung it by his front door. A Hockney of himself that now lives in the National Portrait Gallery. The music executive who signed Whitney Houston and Springsteen also quietly built a serious art collection, and it's about to go to auction.
Christie's confirmed this week that eight works from the collection of Clive Davis, the record executive and producer who died in June at 94, will headline its New York sales this October and November. The collection has been valued at roughly $35 million and includes work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fernando Botero, Jean Dubuffet, David Hockney, Hans Hofmann, Alex Katz, Joan Mitchell, Frank Stella, and Andy Warhol.
A Collector Who Kept Learning
In a statement released alongside the announcement, Davis described his approach to collecting: he spent hours going through auction catalogues, reading about artists and their work, guided by what moved him rather than a fixed strategy. It's a notably unpretentious account from a five-time Grammy winner who spent decades shaping popular music, and it shows in the collection itself, built on instinct and curiosity over a lifetime rather than assembled quickly with outside advice.
The sale's centerpiece is a 1986 Warhol portrait of Aretha Franklin, which Davis hung prominently in his entryway and which doubled as an album cover for the singer. Bidding on that piece is expected to open at $2 million.
What the Collection Doesn't Include
Notably absent from the sale is arguably the collection's most personal piece: David Hockney's portrait of Davis himself, which hangs in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Its exclusion is a reminder that even a $35 million estate sale doesn't necessarily include everything a collector valued most, some pieces are simply never meant to re-enter the market at all.
The Formula Holds Again
A collection built by one identifiable, well-known figure, assembled over decades through genuine personal engagement rather than a single buying spree. Individual pieces with their own documented history, an album cover, a spot by the front door. And a sale timed to a moment of real cultural attention. It's the same combination that's driven headline results across this market all year, this time built one gallery catalogue at a time by a record executive who never stopped being a fan.