While the sale of what has been called the “most important private collection of Danish artwork ever assembled” kicked off on March 5th at Phillips London, a select group of friends and collectors in Palm Beach, including Ambassador Bonnie Hunter McElveen and Gil Kemp, Ginger and Larry Leeds, Michelle Worth, Simone Levinson and others, gathered for brunch and to view the live auction of the first half the collection, live streamed in the Dixon Conference Room of the Society of the Four Arts, alongside the collection’s owner Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. and his wife Sharon Handler Loeb.
Phillips will present the second half of the Loeb Collection during its Modern & Contemporary Art Sale in New York on May 19th, where 100 additional works from the collection will be offered.
Loeb assembled the collection of masterpieces by Vilhelm Hammershøi, Bertha Wegmann, P. S. Krøyer and others, while serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark in the early 1980s. A selection of these works was unveiled in Copenhagen in January at The Erichsen Mansion, launching a world tour that continued through Gstaad, St.Moritz, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Los Angeles before the March sale in London.
Drawing notable attention from collectors worldwide, works by Anna Ancher, Joel Ballin and J.L. Jensen soared past their estimates. It was an exciting moment for Ambassador Loeb, who at 95 years young, chose to sell the collection during his lifetime, and to share the experience with his friends rather than leaving the task to his heirs.
VILHELM HAMMERSHØI, Courtyard interior at Strangade 30, circa 1905. (Photo courtesy of Phillips)
A descendant of two of America’s most influential financial dynasties — the Lehman and Loeb families — whose legacies shaped Wall Street and New York society in the 19th and 20th centuries, John Loeb has been a champion of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. His initiatives include the Loeb Visitors Center at Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, and the Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom at George Washington University. An avid art collector, Ambassador Loeb’s collection spans more than 200 years of Danish art history and is celebrated for its depth and cultural significance.
“When I first arrived in Denmark,” he said, “I spent quiet evenings walking through the halls of Rydhave, reflecting on the empty walls and thinking about the art I had grown up with. Though I initially planned to fill the space with American art, I was soon drawn to the quietude and beauty of 19th-century Danish paintings. It was art I felt comfortable with, and comforted by. Over time, and with The Hirschsprung Museum as my compass, it became a way to learn about the country, its people, and its culture. I hope that when people stand before these works, they’ll sense the beauty in the people and the land that I felt when I first encountered them, and that these auctions will continue to shine a light on Denmark’s remarkable artistic legacy.”
BERTHA WEGMANN (1847-1926), Interior with a Bunch of Wildflowers, Tyrol (Interior me en markbuket, Tyrol), oil on canvas, 91.4 x 106.4 cm (35 7/8 x 41 7/8 in.) Painted circa 1882 in Denmark. (Courtesy of Phillips)
Jeremiah Evarts, Deputy Chairman, Senior International Specialist, Modern & Contemporary Art at Phillips, told PALMER, “We premiered the collection with a five-day exhibition at the Erichsen Palace in the center of Copenhagen this past January and it was spectacular. We had nearly 1,500 people through the doors. Visitors included members of the royal family, officials from the current government, and many of the most important collecting families in Denmark and Scandinavia more broadly.”
That early momentum carried directly into the March sales, which set the tone for what is expected to be a much larger moment in New York this May.
“The results in March, for this prologue of sales, were incredible. The top lot of the sales was a work in our Evening Sale by Vilhelm Hammershøi which made over $2 million and sold alongside Young Woman Reading a Letter by Anna Ancher, which made a record price. There were four works in the Evening Sale and an additional 24 works in the Day Sale. The works in the Day Sale made over twice the aggregate high estimate, which was exciting. There were seven institutions bidding across the sales and the room felt electric with the global response to the Loeb Collection. We will now travel additional highlights from the collection to Hong Kong, where works are already on view, and to Tokyo and Los Angeles. This will all culminate with the real heart of the collection coming to auction in New York.”
P.S. KRØYER, Self-Portrait, Sitting by His Easel at Skagen Beach, 1902. (Courtesy of Phillips)
“Ambassador Loeb’s discerning eye and deep appreciation for Danish culture have resulted in a collection of extraordinary depth and sensitivity,” Evarts said. “Following the success of our 2024 exhibition, Stillness: Hammershøi and American Minimalism, we are proud to present this landmark series of sales.”
He pointed to a broader resurgence of interest in Scandinavian art, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2023 exhibition Beyond the Light: Identity and Place in Nineteenth-Century Danish Art to more recent presentations such as Northern Lights at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, as well as upcoming exhibitions of Hammershøi at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and a major U.S. tour planned for 2027.
“This all speaks to the renewed attention around this cultural legacy,” Evarts added. “Within this context, the appearance of the Loeb Collection on the market presents a rare opportunity to acquire works by these masters of light. Phillips is honored to act as a steward of the collection.”
ANNA ARCHER, Young Girl Reading a Letter (Ung pige, der læser et brev), Painted in 1902, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Phillips
