‘Ritz Tower, Night,’ 1920s Painting by O’Keeffe, Sold for $1.21 Million

NEW YORK —  A Georgia O’Keeffe cityscape, unseen publicly for 40 years, was sold Friday to a private American collector for $1.21 million.

“Ritz Tower, Night” was auctioned at Christie’s to the unidentified buyer, said auction house spokeswoman Mary Lou Strahlendorff. The piece sold for less than the presale estimate of $1.4 million to $1.8 million.

The painting dates to the 1920s, when O’Keeffe was living in Manhattan. “Ritz Tower, Night,” was acquired in the 1950s by New York collector John S. Hilton, whose father owned the tower.

The painting was not seen publicly after Hilton acquired it. Adding to the painting’s allure was the lack of O’Keeffe’s New York works likely to come up for auction anytime soon, said Debra Force, head of Christie’s American Paintings Department.

“All other major New York subjects by O’Keeffe are owned by museums or important private collectors,” Force said. “It’s highly unlikely that another will become available in the near future.”