The collection of British socialite Pauline Karpidas will hit Sotheby’s London and is expected to shatter records.
Considered the greatest collection of surrealist art in modern times, the Pauline Karpidas collection boasts names like Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, and René Magritte. The collection also contains many unique furniture items from the Karpidas home. The auction will be held on September 16th and 17th this year. The presale estimate of the auction stands at £60 million ($81 million); if met, it would make it the highest-selling auction of a single collection in Europe. Apart from the Karpidas collection, there will also be works by Warhol, Picasso, and some other artists sold separately on those days.
Olive Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, will be overseeing the upcoming auction. He said, “There is simply no other collection like that of Pauline Karpidas. From the extraordinary calibre of the artworks to the endless stories of deep friendships and collaborations, this is a window into a special world of boldness, conviction, and insatiable curiosity.”
Pauline Karpidas was born in Manchester, UK. She later moved to Greece and married Constantinos Karpidas. Her passion for art collection started in the 1970s after an inspiration from Alexander Iolas – the gallerist who promoted artists like Magritte and Warhol.
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The auction also comes at a time when surrealism is finding a way back into the public imagination. The art style celebrated its centenary in October 2024. Since then, various exhibitions around surrealism have been held across the world, including Centre Pompidou in Paris and Museum of Modern Art in the US.
