Fast on the heels of mourning Donald B. Marron after his abrupt death in December from what appeared to be a heart attack, auction houses started competing for his impressive art collection, which includes two major Picassos, as well as works by Mark Rothko, Cy Twombly and Willem de Kooning.

But in a highly unusual development on Tuesday, the auction houses were thwarted entirely when three major galleries announced that they would share the sale of the collection.

The galleries — Acquavella, Gagosian and Pace — will jointly organize a New York exhibition in the spring, dividing the works into three significant phases of Mr. Marron’s collecting: the 1960s and 1970s; as a trustee of the Museum of Modern Art since 1975; and in building the collection of the investment bank Paine Webber while he was chief executive between 1980 and 2000.

The decision by Mr. Marron’s widow, Catherine Marron, is a blow to the auction world, particularly when it is coming off lackluster sales in London last week, inventory is low and Sotheby’s is trying to establish itself under new private ownership.