Overview
- Sotheby’s London auction is set for September 17–19 following previews of the 250-item collection opening earlier in the month.
- The auction aims to raise around £60 million, which would mark the highest estimate for a single-owner collection in Sotheby’s European history and surpass her 2023 Hydra sale.
- René Magritte’s La Statue volante is the standout lot with a £9–12 million estimate, joined by ten other Magritte pieces and works by Warhol, Dalí and Picasso.
- Offerings extend beyond paintings to include design pieces such as Claude Lalanne’s sculptural copper ‘structure végétale’ bed and custom furnishings from Karpidas’s London apartment.
- Pauline Karpidas assembled her collection since the late 1970s with guidance from Alexander Iolas, building a trove whose provenance traces back to figures like André Breton, Paul Éluard and Picasso’s family.