One Hundred Years at the Library: The Scull Auction

In this episode of “One Hundred Years at the Library,” Suz Massen, Associate Chief Librarian for Access, transports us back to the 1970s to explore the sensational sale of Robert C. and Ethel Scull’s contemporary art collection. Major works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, and others fetched record-breaking prices, and the event became a public spectacle. The Frick Art Reference Library holds a catalog from the important sale, one of more than 100,000 auction catalogs in our collection that are made available to researchers.

All the objects highlighted in this video series are featured in the celebratory publication One Hundred Objects in the Frick Art Reference Library, available for purchase at the shop. You can consult materials in the library's collections in our reading room—book a free visit today.

0:24: Footage from “The Image of the City,” 1973, published by Ray and Charles Eames, Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation, courtesy the Internet Archive https://archive.org/details/theimageofthecity

0:27, 1:10 & 1:15: Footage from “R.F.D. Greenwich Village,” 1969, produced by the Cotton Producers Association, courtesy Prelinger Archives and the Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/0574_RFD_Greenwich_Village_08_01_00_24

0:30: “Parke-Bernet Galleries, 980 Madison Avenue,” photo by Edmund Vincent Gillon, ca. 1975, Museum of the City of New York

1:02: “The Sculls Attend Auction,” photo by Fred W. McDarrah, 1973, courtesy Getty Images

1:24 & 2:01: “The Sculls Auction Their Art at Sotheby’s,” photo by Fred W. McDarrah, 1973, courtesy Getty Images

2:10: “Audience for the Scull’s Pop Art Auction,” photo by Fred W. McDarrah, 1973, courtesy Getty Images

One Hundred Years at the Library is supported in part by Virginia and Randall Barbato.

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