NEW YORK, NY.- Christie's announced The Joanna Carson Collection, a selection of exemplary art and jewels from the home of Joanna Carson, a deeply generous philanthropist remembered for her significant charitable endeavors as well as for her work in both fashion and theater, first as a model and later as a Broadway producer. The collection includes exquisite examples by icons of Impressionist and Modern art from the Los Angeles residence that Joanna Carson moved into in the 1970s with her then-husband, television host Johnny Carson.

A thematic undercurrent of timeless beauty and an exploration of the human form unite the art collection, with a rare sculpture by Henry Moore—Double Standing Figure—as the crown jewel (estimate: $2 – 4 million). This large-scale sculpture was purchased by Joanna and Johnny Carson during the years of their marriage and remained at the center of Joanna's collection for decades. Conceived in 1950 and cast in an edition of just two examples, the present example is the sole example from the edition to remain in private hands. The only other known cast was exhibited at the entrance to the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1952 and subsequently gifted to the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College in New York by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.

Additional highlights include Matisse's sensual reclining nude in bronze, Nu couché II ($1.2 - 1.8 million), an exquisite Degas pastel of four dancers (estimate: $800,000-1.2 million), and two exceptional Picassos: an oil from 1923 (estimate: $500,000 – 700,000) and a drawing of the artist with his muse from 1964 (estimate: $700,000-1 million). Works will be sold in both the evening and day sales during Christie's Spring Marquee Week in May. Jewelry will be offered in June across Magnificent Jewels and Jewels Online, including significant colored stones and pieces by Van Cleef & Arpels and David Webb.

A New Yorker at heart, Joanna Ulrich spent her early years on the East Coast and lived in New York City, where she worked as a model. She was married to Tim Holland, the celebrated backgammon player, for six years, with whom she had a son, Joe. During a night out in the city in 1971, she first met The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson. The pair quickly fell in love, sharing a whirlwind romance that would result in a surprise wedding in 1972. Joanna and Johnny moved to Los Angeles together when the late night show's filming shifted from Rockefeller Center to Burbank studios, and Joanna settled into the Bel Air mansion that would remain her home for the rest of her life. Friends of the Sinatras and neighbors of Nancy Reagan, the couple lived a chic and glamourous life in the heyday of Old Hollywood during just over a decade of marriage.

Throughout her life in California, Carson dedicated herself to charitable work away from the public eye. She served as Vice President on the board of directors of the Women's Guild of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and was closely associated with both the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and SHARE, Inc., a California-based charity that raises money to support children in need. In a testament to the spirit of generosity that underpinned so much of her life, the sale of her collection will be sold with the intent to benefit three charities: SHARE, Inc., as well as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, and The David Geffen Foundation, Los Angeles.