Art auction

Texas heiress Anne Marion's $150 million art trove up for grabs in auction

Late Fort Worth philanthropist Anne Windfohr Marion's private art collection, estimated at $150 million, is going on auction through Sotheby's next month.

The treasure trove in "Collection of an American Visionary" includes post-war American art masterpieces and other works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Diebenkorn, Clyfford Still, Franz Kline, and more. A few of Marion's prized fine jewels are also being auctioned.

In a release, Sotheby's calls Marion's assemblage "the most significant collection to come to auction for years."

Marion, a Texas ranching heiress, died in February 2020 at age 81. She left behind a Texas ranching empire about one-third the size of Rhode Island, which went on the market late last year for more than $340 million.

The artworks on auction had decorated Anne and John Marion's palatial Fort Worth home. Others are being gifted to the Kimbell Art Museum and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Sotheby's says.

Marion was a champion of the arts in Fort Worth, and she and husband John, a former Sotheby’s chairman and auctioneer, founded the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

According to the release, highlights of the collection are:

Andy Warhol, Elvis 2 Times, 1963. Estimate: $20M-$30M. "Perhaps the most famous depiction of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll by the Prince of Pop Art, Warhol’s 1963 Elvis 2 Times represents a watershed moment in twentieth-century Art History," they say. "The painting combines an investigation of the uniquely American fascination with celebrity and mass media that emerged in the 1960s with unsettling visual evocation of both violence and desire. For the compulsive movie-fan Warhol, Elvis as the reluctant gunslinger presented the zenith of subject matter: ultimate celebrity invested with ultimate power."

Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park No. 40, 1971. Estimate: $20M-$30M. "Richard Diebenkorn’s seven-foot-tall Ocean Park No. 40 from 1971 displays all the hallmarks of the artist at the height of his genius as a colorist and compositional innovator, and is testament to his illustrious place in the canon of American abstract art," they say.

Roy Lichtenstein, Girl with Beach Ball II, 1977. Estimate: $12M-$18M. "Girl with Beach Ball II hails from the height of Roy Lichtenstein’s celebrated Surrealist period and references a diverse range of artists, periods, and masterpieces: Salvador Dalí, Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso," they say.

Clyfford Still, PH-125 (1948-No. 1), 1948. Estimate: $25M-$35M. "Clyfford Still’s masterwork PH-125 (1948-No. 1) bears witness to one of the critical watersheds of twentieth-century Art History: the birth of the Abstract Expressionist movement," they say. "Painted when the artist was a highly influential professor at the California School of Fine Arts, this work epitomizes Still’s pioneering endeavor to establish a new aesthetic school defined by an emphasis on unbound scope and a rejection of representational instincts."

Franz Kline, Mister, 1959. Estimate: $15-20M. "Held in Mrs. Marion’s collection for nearly four decades, Franz Kline’s Mister emerges as an irrefutable masterwork of the artist’s extraordinary oeuvre," they say. "Painted in 1959 during Kline’s most revered stylistic period, this work announces the artist’s sophisticated brand of Action Painting on monumental scale and is one of the most strikingly confident compositions of his output."

In addition to a dedicated auction for Marion's fine art collection, Sotheby’s will also hold an online sale of select jewelry pieces. "As with the masterworks of 20th century American art she acquired with her husband, Mrs. Marion’s appreciation for American-made design extends to her jewelry collection, boasting signature pieces by Verdura, Andrew Clunn, and most notably, David Webb," Sotheby's says.

According to the Sotheby's website, bidding in "American Visionary: Fine Jewels from the Collection of Mrs. John L. Marion" opens May 10 and "American Visionary: The Collection of Mrs. John L. Marion" live auction will take place May 12.

Highlights of the collection are on display in Fort Worth now through March 21, at an undisclosed location. Viewings are by appointment only, and anyone interested should contact dallas@sothebys.com to inquire. They'll also be displayed in Palm Beach, Florida; Los Angeles, Taipei, London, and East Hampton before returning to Sotheby's galleries in New York for a pre-sale exhibition.

Roy Lichtenstein, Girl with Beach Ball II, 1977. Estimate: $12M-$18M

Roy Lichtenstein, "Girl with Beach Ball II," Anne Marion

Photo courtesy of Sotheby's

Roy Lichtenstein, Girl with Beach Ball II, 1977. Estimate: $12M-$18M

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A Glittering Celebration

Christine Baranski brings Hollywood sparkle to Dallas luncheon

Photo by Kim Leeson

Karen Hughes White, Caren Lock, Christine Baranski, Shonn Brown.

The Omni Dallas Hotel shimmered in ruby tones on November 14 as more than 950 supporters gathered to celebrate a milestone four decades in the making: the Texas Women’s Foundation’s Ruby Anniversary Luncheon.

The afternoon blended Hollywood sparkle — courtesy of award-winning actress Christine Baranski — with heartfelt tributes to the visionary women who sparked a movement in Texas 40 years ago.

The annual luncheon, one of the region’s most significant events advancing women and girls, raised an impressive $840,000. More than $112,000 of that came in during the program itself, underscoring the energy in the room and the urgency of the mission.

TXWF used the occasion to announce a landmark figure: a cumulative $115 million in impact since its founding in 1985. That number includes nearly $90 million in grants to organizations serving women and girls, as well as more than $25 million invested in research, advocacy, and leadership initiatives designed to shape long-term change.

Board chair Cris Zertuche Wong opened the program by welcoming seven of the Foundation’s 11 living founders, who also served as the event's honorary co-chairs: Susan Shamburger Bagwell, the Honorable Harryette Ehrhardt, Catalina E. Garcia, Frances Griffin-Brown, Helen LaKelly Hunt, the Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison, Madeline Mandell, Patricia Meadows, Gwendolyn Oliver, CoYoTe PhoeNix, and Rebecca Russell Sykes.

Their presence cast a powerful through line from 1985 to 2025, reminding guests how a collective of 19 bold women stepped across differences in background, beliefs, and political leanings to create an organization with the singular purpose of supporting Texas women and their families.

Wong also recognized former Foundation leaders and Ruby Anniversary co-chairs from across the decades: Gail Griswold and Brenda Jackson representing the 1980s; Laura Estrada, the 1990s; Helen Frank, the 2000s; and Shonn Brown, the 2020s.

TXWF president and CEO Karen Hughes White spoke to the road ahead, noting that while the founders’ vision remains timeless, the challenges facing Texas women have grown more complex. “It will take all of us to create meaningful, lasting, systemic change that levels the playing field for women and, in turn, creates a strong and vibrant Texas for all,” she said.

Throughout the luncheon, guests were treated to archival video clips of the founders recalling how they built TXWF from scratch: the meetings held around kitchen tables, the spirited debates, the shared belief that change was not only possible but necessary.

Brown then honored each of the 11 living founders, as well as those who have passed, noting that their collective voice will be further amplified in a forthcoming 40-story collection documenting TXWF's history.

The afternoon’s featured guest, introduced by Target executive and event sponsor Sabrina Thomas, was the incomparable Christine Baranski, the Emmy and Tony-winning actress of The Good Wife, Cybil, and The Gilded Age.

In an onstage conversation moderated by former board chair Caren Lock, Baranski charmed the audience with stories from her upbringing in Buffalo, New York, where she grew up in a working-class Polish American family. She spoke of perseverance, discipline, and dreaming big, qualities that carried her to Juilliard and ultimately into a celebrated four-decade career spanning television, film, and theater.

As the luncheon drew to a close, the mood was equal parts celebratory and forward-looking. Forty years in, the Texas Women’s Foundation continues to push for equity with the same passion that fueled its founding.

Photo by Kim Leeson

Karen Hughes White, Caren Lock, Christine Baranski, Shonn Brown.

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