NEW YORK, NY.- Six-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and entrepreneur, model Jordyn Woods will curate the latest edition of Sotheby's Contemporary Curated auction, bringing their shared perspective as collectors and cultural tastemakers to the biannual sale. Together, they represent a new generation of culturally engaged collectors, while Towns joins a growing roster of elite athletes turning a competitive eye for excellence toward the art world.

Drawing on their passion for contemporary art, Towns and Woods have assembled a highly personal selection of 10 works by leading postwar and contemporary artists, including George Condo, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Helen Frankenthaler, Alma Thomas, John Chamberlain and Rashid Johnson.

Spanning painting, sculpture, and works on paper, the sale reflects a dynamic cross-section of artistic innovation across generations. The selection explores themes of identity, perception, transformation, and cultural expression while reflecting the couple's evolving journey as collectors and the artists, ideas, and creative influences that have resonated most deeply with them. The live auction will take place at Sotheby's New York on 7 October 2026, with the exhibition on view from 2 October.

Speaking to their own personal tastes in art, the pair remarked: “We're drawn to works that spark emotion, hold memories, and tell stories. Whether it's the energy of a piece, the history behind it, or the way it resonates with our own experiences, we're always looking for art that we can connect with and live with every day.”

Expanding further, Towns and Woods defined their collecting mantra: “We collect based on connection. Whether it's an artist, a memory, a cultural influence, or a moment from our travels, the works that mean the most to us are the ones that continue to reveal something new every time we see them.”

Several of the artists represented hold particular significance for Towns and Woods, including George Condo and Rashid Johnson, whose work they have long admired and followed closely. Reflecting both personal connections and shared creative affinities, the selection offers a more intimate view into the couple's collecting journey, highlighting the relationships, perspectives, and cultural influences that have shaped their engagement with contemporary art.





“Every work in this selection was chosen with intention. Together, Karl and Jordyn have assembled an edit that reflects their individual perspectives, shared interests, and the artists they are most passionate about.” -- Haleigh Stoddard, Sotheby’s Head of Contemporary Curated

Since 2013, Sotheby's Contemporary Curated auctions have invited influential figures from fields as diverse as music, business, fashion, film, sports and culture to curate a group of works by sought-after post-war and contemporary artists that reflect their unique tastes and interests.

Previous guest curators have included Victoria Beckham, Robert Pattinson, Kevin Love, Daniel Humm, Karlie Kloss, Kelly Rowland, Swizz Beatz, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Aoki, Kim Jones, Cynthia Erivo and Rich Paul, among others. Anchored by exceptional works of art, each tastemaker brings a distinctive editorial perspective to the sale.

WORKS SELECTED BY KARL AND JORDYN

George Condo
I Want My Brain Back
Acrylic, pigment stick and metallic paint on canvas
Executed in 2020
Estimate: $1,000,000 - $1,500,000

George Condo’s I Want My Brain Back exemplifies the artist’s signature fusion of portraiture, surreal distortion, and psychological intensity. Through its fractured features and charged expression, the work transforms inner turmoil into visual form, reflecting Condo’s ongoing exploration of the complexities and contradictions of the modern psyche.

“Seeing this work in person is amazing. 2020 was such a tough year for me, and I feel like the face shows a little bit of who I was then and how much I was losing myself. It's a work about trying to keep it together, and that's something that really spoke to me.” - Karl

“George Condo is someone who has become a great friend of ours, and seeing how he works up close has only deepened our appreciation for his art.” - Karl and Jordyn

Andy Warhol
Flowers
Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas
Executed in 1964
Estimate: $2,500,000 - $3,500,000

Hailing from the collection of celebrated architect and former dean of the Yale School of Architecture Robert A.M. Stern, Andy Warhol’s Flowers transforms the traditional still life into a bold Pop icon, presenting four vivid blooms in radiant pink and orange tones that fuse beauty, repetition, and graphic clarity. Created at the height of Warhol’s breakthrough Flowers series, the work reflects his fascination with mass production and the fleeting nature of beauty.

“We have always gravitated toward Warhol's work, and this feels especially personal. Flowers remind us of family, of remembrance, and of the garden we hope to create one day. It's a work that we could easily imagine living with.” -Jordyn

John Chamberlain
Untitled
Galvanized steel
Executed in 1967
Estimate: $500,000 - $700,000

Also hailing from the Collection of Robert A.M. Stern, John Chamberlain’s Untitled exemplifies the artist’s remarkable ability to transform industrial steel into a form of dynamic sculptural expression. Part of his rare galvanized steel series, the work balances weight and movement through compressed folds and shifting planes, imbuing rigid metal with an extraordinary sense of energy, tension, and physical vitality.

Alma Thomas
Red Mums Display
Acrylic on canvas
Executed in 1977
Estimate: $500,000 - $700,000

Vibrant passages of red, pink, and turquoise animate Red Mums Display from 1977, showcasing Alma Thomas’s signature staccato brushwork and masterful command of color. Inspired by the chrysanthemum flower and the artist’s enduring fascination with the natural world, the work transforms a floral motif into a dynamic abstraction, exemplifying the radiant energy and rhythmic structure that defined her celebrated late career.

“It's all about the color story to me, how it makes me feel and the energy I get from a piece. I want to feel inspired and uplifted.” -Jordyn

Roy Lichtenstein
Green Head
Acrylic, oil and graphite on canvas
Executed in 1979
Estimate: $2,500,000 - $3,500,000

Roy Lichtenstein’s Green Head belongs to the artist’s celebrated Expressionist series, in which he reinterpreted the bold forms and emotional intensity of early modern painting through his distinctive Pop aesthetic. Merging art historical references with his iconic graphic style, the work exemplifies Lichtenstein’s ability to bridge high and low culture, transforming familiar visual languages into a striking meditation on image, expression, and artistic tradition.

“I've always liked Lichtenstein's pieces. I love seeing something that's different from what people usually associate with him.” -Karl

Roy Lichtenstein
Interior with Painting of Nude (Study)
Paper, cut paper, market, graphite, pencil on board
Executed in 1997
Estimate: $1,000,000 - $1,500,000

Bringing together two of Roy Lichtenstein’s most important late themes, Interior with Painting of Nude (Study) unites the artist’s celebrated Nudes and Interiors series within a single composition. By placing the female nude within a carefully constructed domestic setting, Lichtenstein reimagines one of art history’s most enduring subjects through his signature visual language, while creating the most fully developed version of this inventive and self-referential composition. The work comes directly from the private collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein.

“Every time you look at it, you see something different. There are so many patterns and details within the composition that different parts capture your eye each time.” - Jordyn

Sam Gilliam
Untitled
Watercolor on washi paper
Executed in 2021
Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000

Part of Sam Gilliam’s celebrated late series of watercolors on Japanese washi paper, Untitled reflects the artist’s lifelong commitment to pushing the boundaries of abstraction. Luminous passages of red, blue, yellow, and green sweep across the composition, transforming pigment into movement, atmosphere, and rhythm while balancing spontaneity with remarkable formal control.

Rashid Johnson
Anxious Man
White ceramic tile, wax and spray enamel
Executed in 1980
Estimate: $400,000 - $600,000

One of the defining motifs of Rashid Johnson’s practice, Anxious Man figure serves as a powerful vehicle for the artist’s exploration of identity and psychological experience. Built from gestural marks of black soap and wax, the work embodies the tension, vulnerability, and introspection that have made the series among his most recognized bodies of work.

“To me, it's about finding your true face through the mud, through the hardships of life, and figuring out who you really are at the end of it all. There's an ugly beauty to that. Rashid is a friend of ours and his art is part of our own collection – we are so excited to include him here.” - Karl

Ed Ruscha
Cities of the Globe
Acrylic on canvas
Executed in 1980
Estimate: $500,000 - $700,000

Stretching across a vast blue expanse, Cities Across the Globe belongs to Ed Ruscha’s series of elongated horizontal paintings, whose panoramic format evokes both the horizon line and the cinematic landscapes of the American West. Eleven city names, including Los Angeles, Miami, and Mexico City, appear in diminutive text scattered across the composition, transforming language into a visual element and underscoring the contrast between the scale of human geography and the seemingly boundless landscape that surrounds it.

“I like Ruscha because he always has a sense of Los Angeles in his work, and that reminds me of Jordyn. Every time I think of Ed Ruscha, I think of where we met, where we live, and the place we call home.” -Karl

Helen Frankenthaler
Return and Exit
Acrylic on canvas
Executed in 1974
Estimate: $1,500,000 - $2,000,000

Sweeping passages of luminous blue and green unfold across Return and Exit, showcasing Helen Frankenthaler’s mastery of color, atmosphere, and gesture. Painted during one of the most celebrated periods of her career, the work balances fluid washes with striking vertical accents, creating a poetic sense of movement and spatial depth that exemplifies her transformative contribution to postwar abstraction.