Up for grabs: The enigmatic surrealist creations of Pauline Karpidas
In September, Sotheby’s London will be hosting an auction featuring the extensive collection of Pauline Karpidas, an 81-year-old art collector residing in a unique London home adorned with surreal art and objects. The collection, which reflects a half-century journey of collecting, centres on Surrealist art and design, and is estimated to fetch around £60 million to £81 million.
Karpidas's collection includes notable works by legendary Surrealist and modern artists such as Hans Bellmer, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, René Magritte, Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Jeff Koons. Among these, a Picabia artwork, Les Deux Amies, is included in the auction with an estimate of £2.2mn-£2.8mn.
In addition to paintings and sculptures by these iconic figures, the auction offers unique, bespoke furniture created for Karpidas by renowned makers including Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Mattia Bonetti, and André Dubreuil. Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s chairman and co-worldwide head of 20th-century design, has a personal favourite in the "delectable Choupatte" designed by Claude Lalanne.
The collection was amassed by Karpidas and her late husband, Constantinos Karpidas, a Greek shipping magnate who passed away in 2005. The couple's Hydra home contained works by contemporary artists Nan Goldin and Tracey Emin, and their two-storey London apartment, overlooking Hyde Park, was filled with works by 20th-century greats.
The auction features a landmark grouping of surrealist work, including drawings by Salvador Dali (from £150,000), paintings by Yves Tanguy (from £1mn-£1.5mn) and Dorothea Tanning (from £300,000), and a collection of Max Ernst sculptures (from £50,000). Highlights of the auction include "The Hour of the Angelus" by Leonora Carrington and Andy Warhol's silkscreen of Man Ray.
Karpidas had a chance encounter with Greek gallerist Alexander Iolas, who introduced her to a circle of artists and dealers, including Andy Warhol and the surrealists. This encounter marked the beginning of her remarkable journey as a collector. She is often compared to other grande dame collectors like Peggy Guggenheim and Dominique de Menil.
The exhibition of Karpidas's collection will be on view from 8 to 16 September, and the auction will be held on 17 and 18 September at Sotheby’s New Bond Street, London. In 2023, artworks from the couple's home on the Greek island of Hydra were sold by Sotheby’s Paris for a total of €35,590,282. The auction in London promises to be another significant event in the art world.
[1] The Art Newspaper [2] Sotheby's [3] The Telegraph [4] The Guardian
- The extensive collection of Pauline Karpidas, a renowned art collector, is set to go under the hammer at Sotheby’s London in September, offering a wide range of items from lifestyle and fashion-and-beauty to entertainment and pop-culture.
- The auctioned collection, which reflects Karpidas's half-century-long journey of collecting, comprises notable works by legendary artists such as Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí, and others, including prints, movies-and-TV memorabilia, and even a few celebrity-signed books.
- Sotheby's has anticipated an estimated £60 million to £81 million from the auction, with unique, bespoke furniture created for Karpidas by popular makers like Claude Lalanne and Mattia Bonetti, adding charm to the home-and-garden segment of the sale.
- Social media will buzz with discussions about the auction, as many art enthusiasts await the opportunity to bid on pieces from surrealist work, including works by Salvador Dali, Yves Tanguy, and Max Ernst, as well as unique pieces from celebrities like Andy Warhol and Leonora Carrington, while keeping up with the latest news from The Art Newspaper, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and other leading publications.
