Lehman Brothers awaiting court’s approval for auction

It has been reported that the bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. would like to raise almost $10 million by auctioning its art collection this fall. Lehman Brothers, the botched investment bank, had filed for bankruptcy two years back in September 2008 when the global recession hit the world, applied to a court in New York for the approval for selling its art collection through the public auction.

Reportedly Lehman Brothers holds more than 400 works of contemporary art. Including the art works like the pieces by Damien Hirst, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha and CY Twombly, Lehman’s art collection is said to be much better than its financial investments.

Julie Mehretu painting, the 2001 work, had been bought by the Lehman Brother Holdings Inc. at the price of $21,726, can now be safely sold at more than $800,000 according to some auction house’s officials. This shows how much they can earn from the auctions. Thus they are waiting for the approval from the New York court.

If the court approves their application, the auction house, Sotheby’s will be displaying the works for public in an auction on September 25th this year.

Some of the significant holdings, which will be auctioned, include:

• We’ve Got Style (The Vessel Collection — Blue), a 1993 work by Damien Hirst estimated at $800,000 to $1.2 million.

• The Long Way Home (2005) by Liu Ye, estimated at $600,000 to $800,000.

• A Richard Prince painting that could sell for $300,000 to $400,000.

• Chaos (1998) by Takashi Murakami, estimated at $150,000 to $200,000.

The application for approval is under consideration by the court. Let’s see what decision the court makes but hopes are high that it will come in Lehman Brothers’ favor.