Sotheby’s sale of British socialite and arts patron Pauline Karpidas’s collection blew past its $53 million high estimate on Wednesday night, taking in $100 million (all prices include fees). The “white glove” result—meaning 100 percent of lots sold—was the highest total for a designated auction held in London.
Two more sales from the collection will follow: a day auction of 193 lots on Thursday and an online sale of 97 lots, which closes Friday. The combined presale estimate for the three sales (345 lots) is $80 million, the highest ever placed on a single collection at Sotheby’s in Europe. That makes Wednesday’s outcome all the more impressive. With multiple bids already placed on the remaining sales, the final tally will likely grow further—a strong showing for Sotheby’s in tough market conditions.
Seventy percent of Wednesday’s 55 lots (all guaranteed) exceeded their high estimates, with the house calling the outcome “a dream result for Karpidas’s whimsical world.” The score echoed 2022, when the art market thundered to a record $67.8 billion globally, and brought welcome relief for Sotheby’s after a rough stretch of layoffs, credit rating downgrades, and depressed sales. Was the night’s fierce bidding and broken records a sign that the market is recovering at the high end after its drawn-out slump? Too early to say, but the mood was jubilant on New Bond Street.
Sotheby’s had history with Karpidas going into the auction: two years ago it sold her Hydra collection for $37.6 million, more than twice its presale estimate. Wednesday’s sale included 23 Surrealist works that the house described as “the greatest collection of Surrealism to emerge in recent history.” Sculpture and one-of-a-kind furniture were also featured.
Before the auction, Melanie Clore, the former longtime chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and cofounder of Clore Wyndham art advisory, told ARTnews: “This marvellous collection from her flat in London reflects Pauline’s passion for art and design and her ability to explore and buy the very best in her chosen field. On the formation of this collection in London, she had a great ability to identify and work with the very best mentors, in particular Alexander Iolas. Pauline’s energy and enthusiasm are infectious and artists and gallerists were drawn to her by her unique style, passion, and bold and instinctive vision.”
Karpidas, who was married to the late Greek shipping magnate Constantinos Karpidas, began collecting 50 years ago after encouragement from the late Greek American gallerist Alexander Iolas. Along the way she forged close relationships with prominent artists, including Andy Warhol.
Eleven works by René Magritte featured on Wednesday. Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s chairman of Europe, told ARTnews last month that his La Statue volante “has to be one of the greatest works by the artist ever to surface on the market.” In the weeks leading up to the sale, the result appeared to depend on the painting’s performance, since its $16.3 million high estimate accounted for 20 percent of the collection’s perceived value. The results on Wednesday proved that hypothesis wrong: La Statue volante sold for just $13.7 million, but this did nothing to curb the barnstorming result.
The works and objects came from Karpidas’s on-the-market London home (notably not listed by Sotheby’s). The auction house replicated the space for the sale, decking out its saleroom with a leopard-print carpet, hanging works salon-style behind auctioneer Barker, and placing the phone-bidding flanks close in for intimacy.
From the start, demand was clear. Lot 1, Hannah Höch’s collage Priesterin, sold for $224,519, more than double its high estimate, setting the tone. Four bidders chased Lot 6, Magritte’s blue plaster head Tête, which went for over $1.2 million (high estimate: $680,000). Yves Tanguy’s Titre inconnu sold for $3.37 million, twice its high estimate and among the artist’s highest prices at auction.
With the results, Surrealism’s momentum showed no signs of slowing. Last year marked the centennial of the movement, with major shows at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and elsewhere, while auction prices for Surrealists have soared. Also in 2024, Christie’s sold Magritte’s L’empire des lumiéres for $121.2 million in New York, a record for the artist.
Lot 11, Warhol’s The Scream (After Munch), drew six bidders over 10 minutes and eventually sold for just over $9 million, more than double its high estimate. When last offered in 1996, it sold for $95,871. The next lot, Claude Lalanne’s unique Structure végétale mirror and wall light, also drew six bidders and sold for $4.8 million against its $615,000 high estimate. The nine Les Lalanne works in the sale totaled $18.5 million on a combined high estimat of $3.5 million, adding further evidence of the strong Les Lalanne market, one of the art market’s few bright spots this year.
At the halfway point, in an unusual move, a buoyant Sotheby’s sent an update email: “We’re currently on Lot 15 and the running total stands at £24.7 million (the low estimate for the evening sale is £39 million).”
Bidding cooled somewhat after the midpoint but still yielded solid results. Picasso’s Buste d’homme sold for its $3.4 million high estimate; Les Lalanne’s crocodile stools fetched more than $1.3 million (high estimate: $340,000); and Jacques Lipchitz’s sculpture La Femme au serpent went for nearly $2 million (high estimate: $1.6 million).
After the gavel came down for the last time, Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s chairman of 20th-century design, told ARTnews: “Pauline Karpidas has long been a radiant champion of art and design, of artists and designers. Tonight, collectors from around the world came out with energy and enthusiasm to celebrate her spirit, her style, and the exceptional items she both commissioned and inspired. The special relationship between patron and artist shines through in every single piece in this fantastical trove, creating a halo of desire that was palpable in the saleroom tonight.”
Wednesday’s result was underpinned by an iconic collection and Karpidas’s lofty art-world status. Sotheby’s said the bidding was “deep, cross-category, and spirited,” driven by the playful and diverse mixture of lots. Collectors were willing to pay for a slice of the patron’s life, a common theme of late. In July, the house sold Jane Birkin’s used Hermès handbag for a record $10 million in Paris, not buoyed by the iconic model’s ownership of the piece.
“Collectors weren’t just acquiring extraordinary works, they were buying a part of history,” Barker told ARTnews after the sale. “I think we can now firmly say that the Karpidas provenance is as powerful and resonant as that of the great illustrious collections from which the works were acquired. From the moment we rolled out Pauline’s tiger-print carpet to the final hammer fall, the energy here was electric. The response was nothing short of phenomenal. It was one of those rare evenings that reminds us why we do what we do.”
