CHRISTIE'S TO SELL MICHAEL CRICHTON COLLECTION

CHRISTIE'S RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL OFFER AT AUCTION THIS COMING SPRING IN NEW YORK MAJOR WORKS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE MICHAEL CRICHTON. BEST-SELLING AUTHOR AND SCREENWRITER, FILM DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, CRICHTON IS RENOWNED FOR HIS TERRIFYING AND SOMETIMES CONTROVERSIAL SCIENTIFIC THRILLERS SUCH AS 'THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN', 'JURASSIC PARK', 'TIMELINE' AND FOR CREATING THE TELEVISION SERIES ER. CRICHTON IS ALSO ACKNOWLEDGED AS A LEADING AUTHORITY ON THE AMERICAN ARTIST JASPER JOHNS. CRICHTON'S NOVELS HAVE SOLD MORE THAN 150 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE; THEY HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED INTO 36 LANGUAGES, AND AS MANY HAVE BEEN MADE INTO BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES. EARLY IN HIS CAREER, CRICHTON DEVELOPED A KEEN INTEREST IN CONTEMPORARY ART AND FRIENDSHIPS WITH DAVID HOCKNEY (WHO MADE A PORTRAIT OF CRICHTON IN 1976), ROY LICHTENSTEIN, ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG AND CLAES OLDENBURG. IN THE 1970s, CRICHTON ALSO BECAME A CLOSE FRIEND AND AVID COLLECTOR OF JASPER JOHNS. HE WAS ASKED BY JOHNS TO WRITE A CATALOG FOR HIS MAJOR RETROSPECTIVE AT THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK, IN 1977. THE PUBLICATION AND ITS REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION ARE CONSIDERED ONE OF THE PREEMINENT STUDIES ON AMERICA'S FOREMOST LIVING ARTIST. IN 2006 CRICHTON WAS APPOINTED TO THE BOARD OF THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ARTS. CHRISTIE'S WILL BE PREVIEWING AND SHOWCASING FOUR IMPORTANT WORKS FROM THE MICHAEL CRICHTON COLLECTION AS PART OF THE PREVIEW EXHIBITION OF MAJOR POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART TO BE SOLD AT CHRISTIE'S IN LONDON NEXT WEEK. 'THIS EXHIBITION IN LONDON IS AN INCREDIBLE INSIGHT INTO THE MIND AND PERSONAL JOURNEY THAT MICHAEL CRICHTON MADE AS A COLLECTOR', SAID A SPOKESPERSON FOR CHRISTIE'S. 'WE WILL SHOW WONDERFUL WORKS BY PICASSO, LICHTENSTEIN, JOHNS AND RAUSCHENBERG, ARTISTS WHOM MICHAEL RANKED AS THE GREATEST OF OUR AGE. WE ARE THRILLED TO BE EXHIBITING AN EXTREMELY RARE EXAMPLE OF JASPER JOHNS' 'FLAG', ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ICONS OF AMERICAN ART. JOHNS' FLAG HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT ON ARTISTS WORLDWIDE. IT IS AN IMAGE WHICH LITERALLY CHANGED THE COURSE OF ART HISTORY.'

THE WORKS ON VIEW IN LONDON WILL BE:
• JASPER JOHNS, FLAG, Jasper Johns, Flag, 1960-1966
• ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG, STUDIO PAINTING (COMBINE), 1960-1961
• PICASSO, FEMME ET FILLETTES (WOMAN AND CHILDREN), 1961
• ROY LICHTENSTEIN, GIRL IN WATER, 1965