NBA’s Kevin Love partners with Sotheby’s to curate upcoming contemporary art auction in New York, with Heat star overseeing roughly $7m in photos, paintings, and sculptures

NBA star Kevin Love has curated a selection of his favorite artworks to put them on auction in a joint collaboration with Sotheby’s, as he reveals his love for art through the world’s largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. 

Love, 35, will curate the latest edition of Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated auction on September 28 in New York after selecting an edit of eight superlative artworks that personally resonate with his collecting vision. 

The Miami Heat power forward, who can also play center, chose a variety of media including photography, sculpture, and paintings, from expressionism, figuration to abstraction and action painting, presenting a broad vision of post-war, as well as contemporary art. 

Speaking to his own personal tastes in art, Love said: ‘I’m fascinated by artists’ processes and what makes them tick – their intent and their impact. What I look for is when a piece has a major storytelling component and drives something out of me that I didn’t even know existed. 

‘Art is discovery,’ he added, defining his collecting mantra. ‘I started collecting to fuel my constant pursuit for curiosity and it’s taught me to take things as they come without fear or judgement. The more you learn the more you realize you haven’t scratched the surface.’ 

Heat forward Kevin Love, 35, will curate an art collection for Sotheby’s in NYC later this month

Among the paintings at the auction will be Ernie Barnes’ Club 55 painting, listed at 800k-$1.2M

Alex Katz’s Canoe with Figure, which was fully painted by 1947, will be priced at $1M to $1.5M

Love is coming off an NBA Finals series loss to the Nuggets earlier this summer with the Heat

Over the last decade, Love, who is nearing the end of his basketball career, has been inspirational to many after winning an NBA championship with LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. He also earned five NBA All-Star selection and won an Olympic gold medal in 2012, and a FIBA World Championship in 2010. 

The fifth overall pick of the 2008 NBA draft also tries to expand his influence off the court as he is committed activist in reducing the stigma around and normalizing the public conversation surrounding mental health. Love founded an eponymous fund in 2018 to inspire people to live their healthies lives while providing the tools to achieve physical and emotional well-being. 

He has been awarded the EPSY Arthur Ashe Courage Award, Change Maker Award by the Child Mind Institute, the NBA Cares Assists Award, an was a EPSY Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award finalist since working to promote mental health awareness. 

‘We want to educate as many kids as we can to understand there are ways to express hardships other than verbally,’ said Love of the correlation between his activism and the art world. ‘We encourage vulnerability through photography, creative writing, all different forms of art and music – fostering community through community.’ 

The artworks that the NBA player selected for Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated auction in the Big Apple include Ernie Barnes’ Club 55 painting honoring music legend Marvin  Gaye. Its estimated price ranges from $800,000 to $$1.2million.

Jennifer Packer’s untitled painting of a group in heated chatter will go on sale for $1M to $1.5M

Ed Ruscha’s Me drawing of gunpowder & pastel from 1993 will be advertised for $300k-$400k 

U.K.-based US artist Issy Wood’s untitled canvas from 2017 will be marketed for $120k-$180k

Ed Ruscha’s Me drawing of gunpowder & pastel from 1993 will be advertised for $300k-$400k

An untitled film still of artist Cindy Sherman will also be listed on auction for $400k-$600k

Antony Gormley’s MEME LXXXVII sculpture will cost the highest bigger $120k-$180k 

One of Cy Twombly’s untitled works from 1961-63 will also be for sale, with its price being listed from $180,000 to $280,000. Alex Katz’s Canoe with Figure, which was fully painted by 1947, will be listed on the market too, although for an estimation of $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. 

An untitled film still of artist Cindy Sherman from 1978 will also be on auction for an estimated $400,000 to $600,000. Jennifer Packer’s untitled painting of an unknown group in heated discussion around table will be for sale for $1M to $1.5M, as well as Antony Gormley’s MEME LXXXVII sculpture for $100k-$150k. 

Lastly, Ed Ruscha’s Me drawing of gunpowder and pastel on paper from 1993 will be advertised for $300k to $400k, while Issy Wood’s untitled canvas from 2017 will be marketed for $120,000-$180,000. 

‘As an avid collector and activist for well-being, art has always been a gateway to expression,’ Love said of the upcoming auction in New York that he will curate in a few weeks time. 

‘Having the ability to curate a group of works that speaks to my experience and reflects how I see the world has been an eye-opening exercise. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the value of art, but the way it makes you feel cannot be measured.’