[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bcd1338a-ce58-485a-8362-2b1d1a199f9c-2.jpeg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tA monumental desk designed by the Pritzker Prize\u2013winning architect Frank Gehry sold for $243,200 at Freeman\u2019s in Chicago last week, according to\u00a0Artnet News<\/em>. The figure is more than ten times its $20,000 high estimate and sets a new auction record for one of Gehry\u2019s design objects.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tKnown as\u00a0Icehenge<\/em>, the sprawling 16-piece work was created in 2012 for the lobby of Chicago\u2019s landmark Inland Steel Building, where Gehry oversaw a renovation after acquiring a stake in the property. Constructed from rough-cut, emerald-tinted glass blocks weighing a combined seven tons, the installation served as the building\u2019s reception desk while doubling as a monumental sculptural centerpiece.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tAlthough its sheer size made it an unconventional auction lot, Freeman\u2019s said interest came from buyers across a range of collecting categories. The winning bidder also intends to keep the work publicly accessible and is considering a temporary museum loan, according to the auction house.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe project grew out of Gehry\u2019s fascination with a fragment of textured glass he encountered while working on another commission. By stacking oversized blocks at irregular angles, he created shifting refractions that emphasized the bubbles, distortions, and imperfections within the material. The glass was tinted green to echo the windows of the Inland Steel Building, where the installation stood in dialogue with Richard Lippold\u2019s suspended sculpture\u00a0Radiant I<\/em>\u00a0(1956).\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe result was unlike most of Gehry\u2019s collectible design work, which has typically centered on his corrugated cardboard furniture or whimsical Fish Lamps. The sale eclipses the previous auction record for one of his design objects, set when a Fish Lamp sold for $239,400 at Phillips New York in 2021. Gehry\u2019s overall auction record remains the\u00a0Winton Guest House<\/em>\u00a0(1987), which sold for $905,000 in 2015.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/market\/frank-gehry-icehenge-desk-auction-record-freemans-1234793145\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bcd1338a-ce58-485a-8362-2b1d1a199f9c-2.jpeg?w=1024″] A monumental desk designed by the Pritzker Prize\u2013winning architect Frank Gehry sold for $243,200 at Freeman\u2019s in Chicago last week, according to\u00a0Artnet News. The figure is more than ten times its $20,000 high estimate and sets a new auction record for one of Gehry\u2019s design objects.\u00a0 Known as\u00a0Icehenge, the sprawling 16-piece work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2059085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2059085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2059085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2059085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2059085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2059085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2059085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}