Sotheby's to sell US$90 million from Hedreen gift to Seattle University
Sotheby's will sell US$90 million worth of art from the collection philanthropist Richard Hedreen gave to Seattle University in Seattle, Washington.
The planned sale was reported by ARTnews on 14 September 2026. It covers part of a much larger gift.
Hedreen made the donation in 2024, according to Seattle University. The university values the full collection at US$300 million.
Seattle University has described the gift as the largest art gift ever made to a university in the United States, in a statement published in August 2025. That claim refers to the dollar value of the donation, not to the number of works.
The gift also included US$25 million towards a new art museum, the university has said. The building is planned as the Seattle University Museum of Art.
The museum is intended to work as a teaching museum, a museum designed around student learning and research rather than public blockbusters alone. The university said the Hedreen collection will be housed there.
That is a lot of art to absorb at once. A US$90 million sale is a practical way to shape a university collection, freeing space and funds while keeping the core intact.
The details of what will be sold, and when and where the sale will take place, will matter. A consignment on this scale, meaning a batch of works handed to an auction house to sell, can run across several sales and categories.
