Exes Harry and Linda Macklowe’s art collection hits record $922M

The blue chip art collection of billionaire mega developer Harry and his ex-wife Linda Macklowe hit a whopping $922 million in sales, making it the most valuable private collection ever sold at auction. 

The collection was sold off in two parts by Sotheby’s as part of the exes’ bitter divorce.

The first sale held in May netted a cool $676 million. A second auction this week raked in $246.1 million, with top sales including a $48 million Rothko, and an $18.7 million Warhol.

The grand total made it the most valuable single-owner sale ever auctioned, beating out the $835.1 million raised by the Peggy and David Rockefeller collection at Christie’s in 2018.

A judge ruled in 2019 that former couple Harry and Linda — who were unable to agree on the collection’s value — had to sell it off and split the proceeds equally. 

Works were also offered by Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly, Willem de Kooning, Alberto Giacometti, Gerhard Richter and Agnes Martin. 

Linda, a Guggenheim Foundation trustee, filed for divorce in 2016 after Harry left her for Patricia Landeau. The couple, who were married for almost 60 years, went through a contentious divorce with Harry marrying Landeau in 2019.

In a dig for the ages, he even plastered enormous billboards of their happy faces on one of his luxury Park Avenue buildings to announce the nuptials. 

Along with the art, Harry and Linda also fought over a waterfront Hamptons home and apartments covering an entire floor at 432 Park Ave. The divorce settlement was never made public.

Harry’s developments include Apple’s glass cube on Fifth Avenue.