Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods Curate Sotheby’s Sale Featuring Warhol, Lichtenstein and More

Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods are bringing their own collecting tastes to Sotheby’s, curating a group of works for the auction house’s latest Contemporary Curated sale in New York. The couple selected 10 works by major postwar and contemporary artists, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, George Condo, Helen Frankenthaler, Alma Thomas, John Chamberlain, Rashid Johnson, Sam Gilliam and Ed Ruscha. The live auction is scheduled for October 7, with the exhibition opening October 2 at Sotheby’s New York.

Towns and Woods said their choices were guided less by name recognition and more by personal connection.

“We collect based on connection. Whether it’s an artist, a memory, a cultural influence, or a moment from our travels, the works that mean the most to us are the ones that continue to reveal something new every time we see them,” the couple said.

Among the highest-estimated pieces in their selection is Andy Warhol’s 1964 Flowers, which carries an estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million. The work comes from the collection of architect Robert A.M. Stern and was created during one of Warhol’s best-known periods.

Roy Lichtenstein’s Green Head is also estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million. Executed in 1979, the painting is part of Lichtenstein’s Expressionist series, in which he reworked the look and emotional intensity of early modern painting through his own Pop Art style.

George Condo’s I Want My Brain Back carries an estimate of $1 million to $1.5 million. Towns said the 2020 work connected with him because of what that year represented personally, describing the fractured face as something that reflected how he felt at the time.

Another Lichtenstein work, Interior with Painting of Nude (Study) from 1997, is also estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million. It comes directly from the private collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein.

Helen Frankenthaler’s 1974 painting Return and Exit is estimated at $1.5 million to $2 million, while works by Alma Thomas, John Chamberlain and Ed Ruscha are each estimated in the $500,000 to $700,000 range. The selection also includes Rashid Johnson’s Anxious Man, estimated at $400,000 to $600,000. Towns said Johnson is a friend and noted that his work is already part of the couple’s personal collection.

Towns and Woods are not consigning their own collection through the project. Instead, they are serving as guest curators, choosing works from the Sotheby’s sale that reflect their own collecting interests and perspective. That role is part of a format Sotheby’s has used since 2013, inviting figures from sports, music, fashion, film, business and other fields to curate selections for its Contemporary Curated auctions. Previous guest curators have included Kevin Love, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Pattinson, Victoria Beckham, Steve Aoki, Rich Paul and others.

For Towns and Woods, the sale also offers a closer look at how they approach collecting together. Rather than focusing on one movement or one generation of artists, their picks move from Warhol and Lichtenstein to newer and more personal favorites like Condo and Johnson.

Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated exhibition will be on view in New York from October 2 through October 6, with the live auction taking place October 7.