This September, Sotheby’s will lift the veil on the extraordinary personal collection of legendary patron and aesthete Pauline Karpidas, showcasing the masterpieces of Surrealist art and furniture design that adorned her one-of-a-kind home in London.
At the core of the offering is the greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history, born from an encounter with Alexander Iolas which sparked a flame in Pauline and brought the pioneering gallerist out of retirement. Decades of acquisitions followed, including from some of the most important auctions in art market history: the prestigious collections of Edward James, William N. Copley, Hélène Anavi, André Meyer, Julien Levy, and the Estates of Man Ray, René Magritte, and André Breton.
In the Karpidas’ London residence, Pauline’s unique vision found its spiritual home. Masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí and more lived seamlessly alongside unique furniture personally imagined and crafted for Pauline by many of the friends and artists she loved and supported, with sculptural renditions of the natural world by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne and designs by Mattia Bonetti and André Dubreuil, brought together by interior designer Jacques Grange and gallerist David Gill. All set against a fantastical backdrop adorned with animal prints, a bold palette and bookcases heaving with tomes on art, dreams and philosophy.
Main Image: René Magritte, La Statue volante (1940–41). Est. 10-14 million Euro. Courtesy of Sotheby's.