NEW YORK, NY.- Kestenbaum & Company's upcoming auction will feature important 20th century art, comprising highlights from the collection of the late Stanley I. Batkin.

The offering of 48 paintings and drawings includes works by celebrated Israeli artists including Yaacov Agam, Avigdor Arikha, Ludwig Blum, Moshe Castel, Marcel Janco, Menashe Kadishman, Reuven Rubin, Yohanan Simon, Avigdor Stematsky and Ziona Tagger. Artwork from the Batkin collection has been exhibited at The Israel Museum, The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, New York’s Jewish Museum and the Venice Biennale.

The collection was formed by philanthropist Stanley Batkin (1914-2015) who set out, many decades ago, to collect the finest examples from each and every major Israeli artist. Batkin was a passionate supporter of the arts in Israel via numerous philanthropic endeavors, serving on the boards of many cultural and scholarly Jewish and Israeli institutions.

Kestenbaum & Company, the premier niche auction house of Judaica in the United States, specializes in the sale of rare books and manuscripts, as well as ceremonial objects, Holy Land maps and fine art. Most recently, the auction house set a new world record price for the sale of a Moritz Oppenheim painting that had never before appeared at auction.

The Batkin collection of Israeli Art will be on exhibition as of early December, with the auction itself to be held on Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at the Kestenbaum Gallery, New York City.