Sotheby’s will roll out the tiger-print carpet this September (17-18) for a two-day sale in London of around 250 works of art and furniture from the eclectic collection of the British patron and tastemaker Pauline Karpidas.
Estimated in excess of £60m, the Karpidas trove consigned to Sotheby's holds the highest estimate ever placed on a single-owner collection by the auction house in Europe. Prior to this the highest estimate was for the 2011 sale Looking Closely, an unnamed private collection of Modern and contemporary art that was estimated in excess of £45m and sold for £93.5m (with fees).
While Christie's can still claim the title of the highest estimate placed on a single-owner collection at auction in Europe—for Hidden Treasures, of Impressionist and Modern works from an unnamed private collection, in February 2019—that sale underperformed, making £43.3m (£50.5m with fees) against its $100m estimate.
Detail of a work by Francis Picabia in Pauline Karpidas’s collection
Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Sotheby's selection for Karpidas sale—which is still being finalised but includes works by Max Ernst, Niki de Saint Phalle, Picabia and Salvador Dalí—comes from her London home and will mostly focus on Surrealist works. Despite the struggling art market, prices for Surrealism have continued to surge in recent years, particularly those by women artists such as Leonora Carrington and Dorothea Tanning (works by both are included in the Karpidas sale). According to the London-based art market research firm ArtTactic, auction sales of works by women Surrealists increased in value by 167% in 2024.
“Other fine artists are also represented, including contemporary art (most notably with pieces by Warhol, who she was very close to),” says Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe. “The other core element of the sale is design, particularly Les Lalanne (who again, she knew personally). As with many collectors of her calibre and taste, Pauline also lives with singular pieces from other areas, which we will be including to best showcase her London collection.” Karpidas, now in her 80s, spends the majority of her time in her main home in New York and “after years of not living with these artworks anymore she has decided it is time to move on”, Barker adds.
Pauline Karpidas and her late husband Constantinos Karpidas
Courtesy of the Karpidas family archive
A regular host to the art world elite, Karpidas’s homes are known for pairing animal prints and a bold palette with art and design by leading artists such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, René Magritte and Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, as well as contemporary names.
Karpidas was born into a working-class family in Manchester, England. She relocated to Athens in the 1970s, setting up a small clothes shop where she met her late husband, the Greek construction magnate Constantinos Karpidas. The late Greek-American dealer Alexander Iolas, who worked with Magritte and is credited for discovering Warhol, famously came out of retirement to help Karpidas build a collection and decades of acquisitions followed.
Karpidas was also known for the annual gatherings she held at her home in Hydra, every July from 1996 until 2017. Invited guests to the weekends were a “who’s who of the contemporary art world at any given time”, Barker once told The Art Newspaper, and included artists like Jeff Koons, Chris Ofili and Tracey Emin as well as curators and museum directors such as Maria Balshaw, Nicholas Cullinan and Beatrix Ruff. In 2023, Karpidas sold her collection in Hydra (242 lots) with Sotheby’s Paris, which—estimated at €11m—made €35.6m.
Despite the market downturn, Barker is optimistic about the September sale. “The property in this collection speaks for itself,” he says. “We are not yet revealing the contents but are confident that when we do, collectors will respond with the same excitement that we saw for the previous [Hydra] sale, if not more.”
The lots will be on view at Sotheby’s London from 8 September, and aims to transport visitors into Karpidas’s unique world—including incorporating her love of tiger print carpet. “We are planning on being inventive with our exhibition design to put together a view that captures the spirit of how Pauline lives with art, and celebrate her individuality,” Barker says.
