Howard Rachofsky beside Mickalene Thomas' 2009 "Miss Collette," donated to the auction courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin

Dallas collectors Cindy and Howard Rachofsky rang up $4 million over the weekend at their annual “Two by Two” benefit, most of which will be split between the Dallas Museum of Art and amfAR’s AIDS’ research initiatives.

Sold artworks at the Rachofsky house

Dealers Victoria Miro, Marianne Boesky, Edward Nahem and Gordon Veneklasen were among out-of-town visitors who attended the weekend proceedings, which included tours of the new Norman Foster-designed opera house and art-filled Dallas Cowboys stadium.

“Part of this is proselytizing about art and architecture,” said collector Howard Rachofsky on Sunday afternoon, standing in his light drenched Richard Meier-designed house as a team of volunteer art handlers wrapped up artworks sold the night earlier for charity. “And part of this is shameless self-promotion for a good reason.”

Rachofsky House

The Rachofskys have thrown their annual fundraiser for 11 years, yielding $21 million for AIDS and art. Their home, and collection, are promised gifts to the Dallas museum.

The Oct. 24 benefit included dinner for 430 (tixs range from $1,500-$5,000) and a  silent and live auction conducted by Sotheby’s Jamie Niven. The 9-lot live auction grossed $1.3 million, as did the 96-lot silent auction.

The artworks assembled for the sale are not the usual charity art auction fare. The Rachofskys are collectors with clout and they are choosy about the offerings and keeping the quality strong. The work is mostly donated by artists and dealers.

Their art adviser, Allan Schwartzman, and Dallas dealer John Runyon, helped score the donated for artworks sale.

The annual event, and the Rachofskys leadership in the local art community, has galvanized other collectors and given a tremendous boost to the local museums.

“Howard and Cindy are the spear headers of all of this,” said dealer Edward Nahem. “It’s genuine and they are very modest about it. They’ve done wonders for Dallas.”

Nahem purchased Tom Sachs elegant plywood “Untitled (Spider’s Web Study #2) for $9,000.

Marlene Dumas' "The Placeless Man"

The top lot was a 2008 painting by Marlene Dumas, “The Placeless Man,” which fetched $450,000 from a Nashville collector. A  2009 Mark Bradford collage on canvas, “Cross Hatch” sold for $200,000, double the $100,000 estimated retail value.