Final Christie's Report: Detroit Art Worth Up to $867-Million

DETROIT FREE PRESS
By Randy Kennedy

Detail from Michelangelo drawing for design of Sistine Chapel, estimates auction value is $12 million to $20 million

MICHIGAN---The price tags are on the paintings. Detroit’s emergency manager released a report from Christie’s auction house on Thursday detailing market estimates for some of the greatest masterpieces in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Art. The estimates – which Christie’s said would total between $454 million and $867 million – cover about 2,800 pieces, or less than 5 percent of the institute’s entire collection because Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn D. Orr, asked Christie’s to focus only on pieces that had been bought with city funds over the years, not ones than had been donated or bought with other funds. The museum and its supporters have vowed to go to court to try to stop any sale. [link]