You might not be able to become a member of George. But you can buy some of the blue-chip art that graced its walls.
(Bloomberg) — If you’re looking to make your home or office feel like the inside of an exclusive members club, you’re in luck. The swanky Mayfair private club George is auctioning off the art that adorned its walls, in a charity sale run by Christie’s called George: Twenty Years in Mayfair.
Some of the highlights of the collection include British artist Tracey Emin’s blue and white neon I’m a Rare Bear, which is estimated to sell for £70,000–£100,000 ($84,000–$120,000), an extensive array of David Hockney prints and posters, and early travel and ski imagery like a 1914 lithograph called Winter in Davos that’s estimated at £10,000–£15,000.
In the heart of London’s upscale Mayfair district, George was founded in 2001 and became known as a place where business and political deals got done. It catered to a crowd of businesspeople and socialites. In September 2009, then-Conservative leader David Cameron met with Rupert Murdoch’s son James, and learned Rupert was abandoning Labour and coming to the support of the Conservative party.
It’s one of several Mayfair hotspots owned by Richard Caring, along with Sexy Fish, Bacchanalia and Annabel’s. Caring bought the Birley Group in 2007 for a reported £90 million, which included the members clubs and the extensive art collection.
The proceeds from the art auction will go to the Caring Family Foundation, which focuses on child hunger, domestic abuse and reforestation, according to its website.
Christie’s believes collectors as well as those who were just members or fans of the club might be willing to buy a piece of art-turned-memorabilia.
“There will be people who have been to the restaurant or members who want a memento, as well as clients who want statement pieces by Hockney or Emin for their own walls,” says Benedict Winter, head of sale for the auction at Christie’s.
There are precedents for these auctions going well for the sellers. Winter says a November 2018 auction for fellow Mayfair property Annabel’s was a “crazy success, that exceeded its estimates by a ridiculous amount.” A doorman’s wool coat went for £1,875 from an estimate of just £50, and Sir Alfred James Munnings’ Study of a Grey Horse went for £242,750 from a high estimate of £25,000.
Winter is most excited about the Emin piece for sale, which was bought from Christie’s in 2014, as well as David Hockney’s sketches of dachshunds. The club is known as being a pup-friendly spot.
The sale comes ahead of the club’s reopening in June following extensive refurbishments that will give it the largest terrace in Mayfair. The new George will have 14 new Hockney pieces, so fans of the British artist will still be able to admire his work at the club. Bidding opens March 14 and online runs for two weeks.
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