Alex Rodriguez Is Auctioning Pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Richard Prince

While Alex Rodriguez and his fiancée, Jennifer Lopez, are quickly amassing a large real-estate portfolio, the baseball player is actually looking to unload some home decor. Famed auction house Phillips announced that it would be offering works from the former New York Yankee’s private collection at its upcoming Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art in London on June 27.

“Alex Rodriguez has solidified his reputation as one of the greatest athletes in American history, but one important aspect of his life that is far less well-known to the public is his life as a collector of contemporary art,” said Robert Manley, Phillips’s worldwide cohead of 20th-century and contemporary art, in a statement. “Over the last 10 years, since he began his collecting journey, Alex has acquired an exceptional collection of works, featuring some of the art scene’s most coveted names, and we are honored to have been entrusted with the sale of these two extraordinary paintings.”

What are those two paintings, exactly? Both Richard Prince’s Mustang painting and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Pink Elephant With Fire Engine will be up for sale after years of residing in Rodriguez’s Florida home. In fact, this marks the first time that both New York–inspired pieces are being offered for sale publicly.

As for how the athlete came to own such works, he credits being guided by artists he has met throughout his career. “I have been collecting for a decade,” he said in a statement. "A number of gallerists and advisers pointed me in the right direction, and I have been in conversation with several artists, whose studio practice seem close to my own as an athlete.”

With the sale of the paintings, Rodriguez is hoping to make space for new work chosen by both himself and his future wife. “I am starting a fresh chapter in my personal life, and after a decade of collecting on my own, I am excited to begin a new collecting journey with Jennifer,” he told Phillips. “We are both committed to the arts and will continue to be great patrons together.” It shouldn't be hard for the couple to agree on which pieces to buy. In 2017, artist Peter Tunney told Architectural Digest that even before they got together, both A-Rod and J.Lo each owned some of his work.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest