Pauline Karpidas Surrealist Collection to Auction at Sotheby's London

Sotheby's London will auction the Pauline Karpidas collection, the most significant Surrealist collection to appear on the market in decades, with over 250 lots estimated at over £60 million. The single-owner sale, titled The London Collection, includes masterpieces by René Magritte, Francis Picabia, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso, alongside design pieces by the Lalanne couple. The auction consists of three events: an evening sale on September 17, a day sale on September 18, and an online sale closing on September 19, 2025. Pauline Karpidas (born 1943 in Manchester) began collecting Surrealist works in the 1980s under the guidance of gallerist Alexander Iolas, acquiring pieces from renowned collections such as those of Hélène Anavi and Edward James. Her London home was conceived as a total work of art, blending art and design by figures like Jacques Grange and Francis Sultana. The collection also features works by Alberto Giacometti, Jeff Koons, Giorgio de Chirico, Leonora Carrington, and Yves Tanguy. Sotheby's has opened a public exhibition on September 8 recreating the collector's home atmosphere. A previous portion of the collection sold at Sotheby's Paris in 2023 for €35.6 million against estimates of €11 million.