You may have noticed this piece in the Sunday Times about how, through a series of serendipitous events, a dizzying array of some of the world’s most famous (and expensive) works of art have been slated to go up for auction this week. A third of the story centers around the collection of legendary Philadelphia art collector and humanitarian David Pincus, who passed away at the end of last year. (Oh, to have some version of this line in one’s obit: “Mr. Pincus was fond of basset hounds, stiff martinis, athletics and monumental acts of generosity.”)

The collection Pincus left behind is, frankly, breathtaking: De Koonings, Rothkos, Cindy Shermans, Nan Goldins, and on and on. And when taken in whole, one can’t help but get the feeling that this stuff should stay here — Pincus was a cooler, less issues-y Barnes. So when we learned that the Pincus collection was being auctioned off at Christie’s in NYC this morning, our first thought was: Please let someone from the Philadelphia Museum Of Art be heading up there to grab this stuff. So we asked, and we got the terse reply: “The museum does not comment on upcoming auctions.” We looked for a twinkle in the eye, or a wink, but we found none. Here’s hoping, though. We’d hate for this nice Wynnewood gent’s utterly amazing art collection to wind up in some Russian disco. It just wouldn’t be right.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 1:30 pm.