“The famous Seagram art collection, including a 1919 curtain mural painted by Picasso, is to be auctioned in New York through the spring and summer by Christie’s auction house, it was announced yesterday… Last year, Vivendi Universal, the heavily indebted Paris-based media group that owns Seagram, decided it didn’t want to be an art owner and ordered the ‘liquidation’ of the 2,500-piece collection, setting off a storm of controversy.” The company’s collection of photos will be sold by Phillips De Pury & Luxembourg at a separate auction in late April.