CHRISTIE’S CELEBRATES THE ECLECTIC EYE OF THE TALENTED AND BELOVED KING OF CROONERS:ANDY WILLIAMS A group of works from the collection of crooner Andy Williams will be offered in the Evening and Day Sales, May 15th and 16th, and is expected to achieve in excess of $30 million.
News-Antique.com - Feb 11,2013 - “Throughout my life, I have always been collecting. Every picture I ever sold I still regret. But I never gave up buying… I could not imagine a life without paintings. I look at my paintings every day. At night I will go into the living room and look at the Dubuffet because I love it so much. Then to the drawing room, to look at the Picasso, the de Kooning, the Diebenkorn. I could not imagine a room without art.” Andy Williams
New York – Christie’s is pleased to present the outstanding collection of Post-War and Contemporary art, thoughtfully accumulated over a sixty-year period by Andy Williams, one of America’s most beloved performers. A group of works from his collection will be offered in the Evening and Day Sales, May 15th and 16th, and is expected to achieve in excess of $30 million. The works come from Williams’ two houses in California and Missouri, as well as his own Moon River Theater, and also include Impressionist and Modern Art, American Art, Latin American Art, Prints and Multiples, African and Oceanic Art and 20th Century Decorative Art and Design to be sold in New York, London and Paris in 2013.
ANDY WILLIAMS: 1927-2012
Andy Williams was born on December 3, 1927 and grew up during the height of the Depression in Wall Lake, Iowa, a place where money and opportunity was in extremely short supply. His dramatic rise to fame was a uniquely American success story: from modest circumstances, he became one of the most famous and beloved entertainers in the world, known as “The Legend.”
In his youth, Williams performed in a church choir with his three brothers, before making his official singing debut at age 8 as part of the Williams Brothers quartet. Championed by their father, who had an unshakeable belief in his sons’ potential, they moved from Iowa to Des Moines to Chicago, always in search of a wider audience. The Williams brothers’ fame grew with each performance. Their first big break came when Bing Crosby hired them as backup singers on his 1944 hit, Swinging on a Star. By 1947, they were headlining shows in Las Vegas—within a year, they were the highest paid nightclub act in the world.
Williams began his solo career in 1952 with early hits such as "Canadian Sunset," and "The Hawaiian Wedding Song." In 1957, his song “Butterfly” was the No. 1 single in the United States and Britain. After almost a decade of successful records, the singer moved to Los Angeles in 1961 to sign with Columbia Records, who offered Williams what was at the time the biggest recording contract in history. By 1973, Williams had recorded more than 17 gold records, including “Love Story” and “Days of Wine and Roses.”
His 1962 rendition of Henry Mancini’s "Moon River" from the film, Breakfast at Tiffany's, solidified his status as one of the era’s most popular singers; he was even asked to perform when it was nominated for Best Original Song
