PRESS RELEASE | NEW YORK | 8 NOVEMBER 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A CELEBRATION OF THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM

WORKS BY THE WORLDS PREEMINENT CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS TO BE SOLD AT CHRISTIES NEW YORK TO BENEFIT THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM

FRED TOMASELLI (B. 1956) Penetrators Executed in 2012. Estimate: $120,000-180,000

New York Christie's is honored to offer four exceptional works of art donated to benefit the artistic activities of the Brooklyn Museum. The proceeds from this sale will help to support a dynamic program of special exhibitions, the preservation and presentation of its world renowned holdings, and a wide range of related public programs. The four works signed Fred Tomaselli, Takashi Murakami, Mickalene Thomas and Gilbert & George are going to be sold during the day sale of Post-War and Contemporary art on November 15, most of them were made especially for this auction.

The Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Museum and I are immensely grateful to Gilbert and George, Takashi Murakami, Mickalene Thomas, and Fred Tomaselli for their ongoing and great friendship and exceptionally generous support for the Museum. The proceeds from their extraordinary works of art will provide critical benefit to Brooklyns exhibition and education program. At the same time, we are exceedingly grateful to Christies for its wonderful commitment to the Brooklyn Museum which has made possible this continuing celebration this year and next of one of New York Citys great cultural institutions. States Arnold L. Lehman, Director of the Brooklyn Museum
TAKASHI MURAKAMI (B. 1962) Multicolor Flowers Executed in 2012. Estimate: $150,000-200,000

The sale of these four works, created by artists who share a deep commitment to the Brooklyn Museum, kicks off BKLYN: A Celebration of the Brooklyn Museum, a multi-year collaboration between Christie's and the museum that includes additional sales benefiting the institution in 2013. Today, the Museum supports an innovative and engaging program of special exhibitions from the scholarly to the popular, exemplified this season by three exceptionally diverse shows: "Jean-Michel Othoniel: My Way," "Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe" and "Materializing 'Six Years': Lucy R. Lippard and the Emergence of Conceptual Art." Next year, Christie's is proud to be a sponsor of the first solo exhibition in a New York museum by the globally renowned contemporary artist El Anatsui as well as "Behind Closed Doors: Power and Privilege in the Spanish American Home, 1492-1898."
MICKALENE THOMAS (B. 1971) A, E, I, O, U (and sometimes Y) Executed in 2009-2011. Estimate: $30,000-40,000

PRESS CONTACTS: Capucine Milliot (Christies) Sally Williams (Brooklyn Museum)

+1.347.403.1564 +1.718.501.6330

cmilliot@christies.com sally.williams@brooklynmuseum.org