Cy Twombly, Untitled, 1968 [New York City], 68 x 90 in. (172.7 x 228.6 cm). Estimated to realize in excess of $60 million. Photo: Sotheby's.

NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York 11 November 2015 will feature Untitled, 1968 [New York City] - a seminal example of Cy Twombly’s celebrated series of ‘Blackboard’ paintings from the collection of Los Angeles philanthropist, Audrey Irmas. Proceeds will benefit The Audrey Irmas Foundation for Social Justice, which supports causes championed by her and her late husband, including Wilshire Boulevard Temple who will receive $30 million from the sale. The funds will launch the campaign for the Temple’s new building, designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) led by Rem Koolhaas, and to be named The Audrey Irmas Pavilion. The building will be OMA’s first commission from a religious institution, and the firm’s first cultural building in California. Untitled, 1968 [New York City] will be on view at Sotheby’s Los Angeles from 24-25 September before exhibitions in London and New York. 

“The date, scale, and distinguished provenance of Untitled, 1968 [New York City] place it as one of the most important examples of Cy Twobmly’s celebrated ‘Blackboard’ series remaining in private hands,” commented Anthony Grant, Sotheby’s Vice Chairman, Americas. “It is always a pleasure to welcome spectacular works of art back to Sotheby’s – we last offered the painting in 1990 as part of the Saatchi Collection. The brilliance of the artist's gestural genius is on full display as the written form dissolves into a nuanced grey background. All of us who know and care about the arts in Los Angeles have benefited from the extraordinary generosity of Audrey Irmas and her late husband Sydney, and so we are thrilled to be offering this Twombly masterpiece to benefit such a wonderful cause.” 

Mrs Audrey Irmas commented: “I have loved living with this magnificent work by Cy Twombly for 25 years. Similarly, Wilshire Boulevard Temple has been an important part of my family for generations, and when I learned of the vision for the new building, and how it would enrich the wider community, I decided that now was the right time to share my good fortune with others. It was a difficult decision to part with such a treasured work of art but the idea of bringing joy to so many makes me incredibly happy.” 

Rabbi Leder noted: "Audrey is transforming private art into public art in a very powerful way. The proceeds from a visionary painting that hung in her home, the inner circle of her private life, will now fund public art in the form of a contemporary architectural masterpiece designed by OMA, led by Rem Koolhaas, on Los Angeles’ most important boulevard, providing inspiration to all of Los Angeles. What a selfless and uplifting example she is for each and every one of us." 

Audrey Irmas 
A passionate patron of the arts and a generous philanthropist, Audrey Irmas has built a remarkable collection of photographs and contemporary art over the last four decades. With her late husband Sydney, the family gifted nearly two-hundred photographs to LACMA in 1992 to form the Audrey and Sydney Irmas Collection of Artists' Self-Portraits, a dedicated collection chronicling 150 years of photographic history. Mrs. Irmas also serves as a life trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) and is the benefactor of the Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence at the Bard College. The Irmas family’s dedication to philanthropy extends far beyond the art world though with major support for a range of causes including the USC Law School, community centers for homeless children particularly the Sydney M. Irmas Transitional Living Center and the Heart of Los Angeles, as well as Wilshire Boulevard Temple. 

Untitled, 1968 [New York City] 
While in Rome in 1966, Cy Twombly abruptly deviated from his Baroque Paintings, characterized by rich, colorful compositions, and began experimenting with lyrical calligraphy in grey-scale. Made in New York and known as ‘Blackboard’ paintings, this iconic series combines the figurative and the abstract, with rhythmic, illegible script in chalk-white crayon dancing along a cool-grey backdrop. 

The present work was acquired by Sydney M. and Audrey Irmas from Sotheby’s in 1990 where it was sold on behalf of the Saatchi Collection. Dating from the year in which Twombly had his first museum retrospective, Untitled, 1968 [New York City] is one of the few ‘Blackboard’ Paintings from 1968 remaining in private hands. Comparable works of art are displayed at the MOCA in Los Angeles, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst in Germany. 

Wilshire Boulevard Temple 
Since its founding in 1862, Wilshire Boulevard Temple has become a cornerstone for the Jewish community in Los Angeles. On their campuses in West Los Angeles and Malibu, the Temple hosts numerous community programs including early childhood centers, elementary schools, summer programs for children and worship, social justice and cultural programs for adults. 

The sale of Untitled, 1968 [New York City] will benefit the construction of Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s newest edifice, the Audrey Irmas Pavilion. This $30 million gift, one of the largest single donations to a temple in the United States, will initiate the fundraising campaign for this 55,000-square foot space designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture’s New York office, led by Shohei Shigematsu and Jason Long. Once completed, the Audrey Irmas Pavilion will stand alongside the historic Sanctuary Building from 1929 and have the honor of being OMA’s first cultural building in California.