Miami’s De la Cruz Collection closed. Art headed to $30 million auction after founder’s death

One of the most important publicly available contemporary art collections in Miami — and the world — will be sold to the highest bidder.

The de la Cruz Collection, a free museum displaying the collection of Miami couple Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz, is permanently closed after 15 years in Miami’s Design District. Auction house Christie’s will sell the high profile collection over several sales for an estimated total of $30 million, as first reported by Artnet News on Friday.

The news of the collection’s sale came just a month after Rosa’s death at age 81. The last public event held at the museum was a memorial in her honor packed with hundreds of people.

Rosa, who died February 25 following a long battle with an autoimmune disorder, was a well-respected arts patron and half of one of Miami’s most high-profile power couples. Their collection includes coveted artworks by Christopher Wool, Mark Bradford, Félix González-Torres and the late Ana Mendieta. Carlos is the chairman of CC1 Companies, Inc., a privately held bottling and distribution empire that distributes Coca-Cola in Puerto Rico and other beverages throughout the Caribbean. Rosa had served as the company’s director and treasurer.

Even before the inaugural Art Basel Miami Beach in 2002, the de la Cruzes often opened their Key Biscayne home to art enthusiasts and Miami-Dade public schoolchildren to see their personal collection. And every December, the family welcomed VIPs and artists to their picturesque waterfront home to kick off Miami Art Week. Their remarkable collection, estimated to hold about 1,000 pieces, repeatedly landed them on the ArtNews Top 200 Collectors List.

In a statement, Isabella Lauria, head of Christie’s 21st century art evening sales, praised Rosa for her efforts in bolstering Miami’s art community and said that the auction house is humbled to work with the de la Cruz family.

“We’re pleased to have the honor of stewarding the sale of Rosa de la Cruz’s collection this spring,” Lauria said. “In particular, we’re thrilled to be offering, for the first time, a survey of work by Ana Mendieta, whose artistic legacy has only recently started to receive the recognition it so deeply deserves, both within institutions and more broadly in popular culture.”

Fellow Miami art collector Dennis Scholl said the de la Cruzes’ have been incredibly generous to share their collection and philanthropy with the public. Ultimately, since the collection remained private, its the family’s right to do with it as they choose, Scholl said.

“They built an extraordinary collection, and the fact that it’ll be available for other people to enjoy is a wonderful proposition,” he said of the sale. “Collections pass through generations, and they pass through generations in different ways. I know the art world will be very excited about having a chance to look at what’s going to be for sale.”

Rosa had been open about one day selling the collection. In 2009, she told the New York Times, “Every collector needs to realize you can’t take it with you. The works will either go to an institution, which might not be able to show them; to your kids, who might not want them; or to an auction house.”

Carlos, Rosa’s husband of over 60 years, chose the latter option. In a Tuesday interview with the Herald, Carlos said he didn’t plan to sell the collection anytime soon because he didn’t expect Rosa’s passing. Though she had been dealing with an illness, she remained active, visited the museum often and spent time with family, he said.

Rosa died on a Sunday, when the museum was usually closed. Carlos just never reopened it.

“The Herald had published a headline when Queen Elizabeth was buried that said ‘End of an Era,’” Carlos said. “For me, it was an end of an era, too.”

There is a practical reason why the family chose to close shop and sell. The couple have five children, 17 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Paying taxes for the collection and maintaining the museum building is costly and shouldn’t be put on the next generation, he said. (Carlos was not able to discuss a potential sale of the museum building.)

But there’s another reason, he noted. It’s not the same without Rosa.

Rosa was the driving force behind the collection. Carlos would drive Rosa to and from the museum every day, he said. He would read or have lunch there while she attended to her beloved artworks. Rosa had also spearheaded an education program that sent hundreds of Miami students on trips to study art in Europe and New York City. Carlos was happy to report that the program is likely to continue in the future.

“The collection was her baby,” Carlos said. “She did a wonderful job of presenting it to the community. I’m very proud of what she did. Very, very proud of what she did, and I’d be happy to do it all over again. But it was hers. And it’s different now.”

Hopefully, he said, “people that buy it will show it.”

This story was produced with financial support from individuals and Berkowitz Contemporary Arts in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.