Lehman Brothers Art Collection Up for Auction

If ever there were a perfect souvenir of the current financial crisis, it’s a piece of art from Lehman Brothers’ private art collection, set to be auctioned November 1. Philadelphia auction house Freeman’s is holding the first of two sales of nearly 700 pieces from Lehman Brothers, most of which is estimated at less than $1,000. There are, however, some gems to found in this economic wreckage. The collection includes a Roy Lichtenstein print, I Love Liberty (estimated at $15,000- $25,000), 10 of Berenice Abbott’s photographs of New York City (estimated at $6,000-$10,000), and a set of nine Walker Evans photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge (estimated at $1,000-$1,500). Freeman’s will hold the second sale on February 12, which will include “fine art, prints, paintings, and drawings that will all be sold without reserve,” says a spokesperson for the auction house. In total, Freeman’s estimates the auctions of Lehman’s art will raise between $780,000 and $1.18 million, not nearly enough to mollify the company’s long line of investors looking for money in bankruptcy proceedings.