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# Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Acquires 34 Works by Outsider Artists and a Basquiat Sells for $45.3M at Phillips
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/transactions-virginian-museum-fine-arts-souls-grown-deep/
- Published: 2018-05-24T21:38:51.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:25:06.000Z
- Description: Plus Christies and Sotheby's wrapped up their New York spring sales, museums and foundations snapped up works deaccessioned by the Berkshire Museum, and more.
- Author: Benjamin Sutton
- Tags: News, Transactions, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-18 14:37 (2018)

![Purvis Young, "Untitled book page" (1983), found book with drawings glued to cover and interior, ballpoint pen, marker, paint on paper, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams fund and partial gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation (photo by Dan Jurgens; © Estate of Purvis Young / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/05/transactions-vmfa-souls-purvis-young.jpg)

Purvis Young, “Untitled book page” (1983), found book with drawings glued to cover and interior, ballpoint pen, marker, paint on paper, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams fund and partial gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation (photo by Dan Jurgens; © Estate of Purvis Young / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York)

*Transactions is a weekly collection of sales, acquisitions, and other deals.* [*Subscribe*](http://hyperallergic.com/newsletter?utm%5Fsource=page&utm%5Fcampaign=artmovements) *to receive these posts as part of the weekly Art Movements newsletter.*

![Jesse Aaron, "Untitled" (early 1970s), wood, popsicle stick, doll’s eyes, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund and partial gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation (photo by Ron Lee / The Silver Factory; © Estate of Jesse Aaron)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/05/transactions-vmfa-souls-jesse-aaron.jpg)

Jesse Aaron, “Untitled” (early 1970s), wood, popsicle stick, doll’s eyes, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund and partial gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation (photo by Ron Lee / The Silver Factory; © Estate of Jesse Aaron)

The [**Virginia Museum of Fine Arts**](https://www.vmfa.museum/pressroom/news/virginia-museum-fine-arts-acquires-34-artworks-souls-grown-deep-foundation/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (VMFA) acquired 34 works from the **Souls Grown Deep Foundation** (SGDF), including works by **Purvis Young**, **Thornton Dial**, **Jesse Aaron**, and the **Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers**. The acquisition, part gift and part purchase, is the latest in the [SGDF’s initiative](https://hyperallergic.com/177156/from-the-deep-south-an-overlooked-chapter-in-art-history/) to deepen the collections of works by African American artists from the South at major museums, and follows previous acquisitions by the [Metropolitan Museum](https://hyperallergic.com/164651/the-met-museum-nets-major-collection-of-outsider-art-from-the-south/), the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and others. “These artworks will help to tell a story that for too long has been overlooked by museums and art historians,” VMFA Director Alex Nyerges said in a statement. A special exhibition featuring the newly acquired works will open at the VMFA on June 8.

![Jean-Michel Basquiat, "Flexible" (1984), which sold for $45.3 million at Phillips (image courtesy Phillips)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/05/transactions-phillips-basquiat.jpg)

Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Flexible” (1984), which sold for $45.3 million at Phillips (image courtesy Phillips)

A 1984 work by [**Jean-Michel Basquiat**](https://www.phillips.com/press/release/Phillips-Evening-Sale-of-20th-Century-and-Contemporary-Art-Realizes-$131.6-Million?ref=hyperallergic.com) that he painted on a found section of a white picket fence was the top lot in **Phillips**‘s evening sale of 20th century and contemporary art on May 17\. The Basquiat, “Flexible,” brought in $45.3 million toward the sale’s total haul of $131.6 million, which also set new auction records for **Robert Motherwell**, **Pat Steir**, and **Cory Arcangel**.

The [**Calder Foundation**](http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/berkshire-museums-calder-sculpture-back-in-the-family,539913?ref=hyperallergic.com) bought “Double Arc and Sphere,” an **Alexander Calder** sculpture from 1932 that was one of the works controversially deaccessioned by the [**Berkshire Museum**](https://hyperallergic.com/tag/berkshire-museum/), for $1 million at a **Sotheby’s** evening sale last week.

![Francis Bacon, "Study for Portrait" (1977), oil and dry-transfer lettering on canvas; sold for $49.8 million at Sotheby's (image courtesy Sotheby's)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/05/transactions-christies-bacon-study-for-portrait.jpg)

Francis Bacon, “Study for Portrait” (1977), oil and dry-transfer lettering on canvas; sold for $49.8 million at Sotheby’s (image courtesy Sotheby’s)

[**Christie’s**](http://www.artnews.com/2018/05/18/49-8-m-francis-bacon-portrait-leads-solid-397-1-m-christies-sale-records-falling-joan-mitchell-robert-gober-morris-louis/?ref=hyperallergic.com) evening sale of contemporary art on May 17 brought in a total of $397.1 million, with **Francis Bacon**‘s 1977 painting “Study for Portrait” leading the way at $49.8 million. The sale brought the grand total for Christie’s spring auctions in New York to a whopping [$1.79 billion](https://www.christies.com/about-us/press-archive/details?PressReleaseID=9026&lid=1&ref=hyperallergic.com).

The city of Jacksonville, Florida, and the **Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville** will split the proceeds from the sale of a monumental work by [**Joan Mitchell**](http://www.jacksonville.com/news/20180518/city-moca-to-split-28-million-from-sale-of-painting-at-christies?ref=hyperallergic.com). “[Iva](https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/joan-mitchell-1925-1992-iva-6141848-details.aspx?ref=hyperallergic.com)” (1973), a 21-foot-wide triptych that was donated to the city in 1997, fetched $2.7 million ($3.25 with buyer’s premium) at a **Christie’s** morning sale on May 18; factoring in a 4% bonus, the city and museum will each get $1.4 million.

![Frederic Edwin Church, "Valley of Santa Isabel, New Granada" (1875) (courtesy the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/05/transactions-church-valley-santa-isabel-pafa.jpg)

Frederic Edwin Church, “Valley of Santa Isabel, New Granada” (1875) (courtesy the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia)

The [**Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts**](https://www.pafa.org/press-room/press-release/frederic-edwin-church-acquisition?ref=hyperallergic.com) acquired Hudson River School painter **Frederic Edwin Church**’s “[Valley of Santa Isabel, New Granada](http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/american-art-n09867/lot.64.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)” (1875) from Sotheby’s for an undisclosed price (its pre-sale estimate was $5–7 million). The painting was one of the works recently deaccessioned by the [**Berkshire Museum**](https://hyperallergic.com/tag/berkshire-museum/).

The filmmaker, writer, and producer [**George Stevens, Jr.**](http://www.oscars.org/news/academy-announces-major-collections-gift-george-stevens-jr?ref=hyperallergic.com) donated papers and films documenting his career to the **Margaret Herrick Library** and the **Academy Film Archive**.

The [**Clark Art Institute**](https://www.clarkart.edu/About/Press-Room/Press-Releases/2018/Lethiere-Acquisition-5-22?ref=hyperallergic.com) acquired **Guillaume Guillon Lethière**‘s painting “Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death” (1788), as well as one of the artist’s preparatory sketches for the work and a 1794 engraving based on it by **Pierre Charles Coqueret**.

![Guillaume Guillon Lethière, "Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death" (1788), oil on canvas, 23.375 x 39 in (courtesy the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/05/transactions-clark-lethiere-brutus.jpg)

Guillaume Guillon Lethière, “Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death” (1788), oil on canvas, 23.375 x 39 in (courtesy the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts)