The art collection of pioneering gallerist Ileana Sonnabend and her daughter goes on auction in New York next month, valued at $50 million and featuring some of the finest 20th century artists. Auctioneers Christie’s said it had acquired the Sonnabend collection and the estate of her daughter Nina Sundell, which would be offered for sale as 88 lots on May 13-14. Born in Bucharest in 1914, Sonnabend and her first husband Leo Castelli moved first to Paris and then fled to New York to escape growing anti-Semitism and the outbreak of World War II. She immersed herself in the post-war cultural scene, befriending figures such as Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. Together with second husband Michael Sonnabend, she moved back to Paris in the 1960s, where they set up the Galerie Sonnabend to introduce Europe to

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