The planned disposals are, a report says, partly aimed at repaying a bank loan. The sales would be among the largest in recent years and shed light on how the world of art and wealth management intersect.

US billionaire Ronald Perelman, who recently sold two paintings for $37.3 million, has authorized auction house Sotheby’s to find buyers for hundreds of millions of dollars of additional works from his collection, according to Bloomberg and other news services. 

Most of the pieces from his trove of 20th and 21st century art are being offered privately, but some may come to auction, the news service said, citing unnamed sources.

The saga sheds light on how the art market continues to operate even amid the dislocations of the pandemic, and how art is as much an investment class as it is a source of enjoyment. The report said that some of the proceeds of sales will be used to repay a loan at Citigroup. The US bank reportedly declined to comment on that matter. The report said a spokesperson for Perleman has declined to comment. 

This news service has published a number of articles about the intersection of art and wealth management in recent weeks. (See here and here.)

Perelman, 77, who owns Revlon, has recently been liquidating other assets, as well, including his stake in Humvee-maker AM General and a flavoring company he owned. He said in July that he wanted to rearrange his holdings “due to changes in the world both socially and economically.” 

Perelman wants a “less complicated and leveraged business life”, he reportedly said in a statement. 

The ARTnews website said his collection runs to more than 1,000 works of art.  At various points the collection has included significant modern and contemporary artworks by Richard Serra, Cy Twombly, Joan Miró, Henri Matisse and Jeff Koons.

Perelman’s art has an estimated value of about $3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.