Unforgettable estates sold at Christie’s 

From the Rothschilds to the Rockefellers, Yves Saint Laurent to Hubert de Givenchy, Christie’s has sold many of the most important private collections to ever come to market. The homes of these famous families and cultural giants were showcases of their owners’ unparalleled style, with fine and decorative art that reflected their sophisticated and eclectic tastes.

The works of art in each of these estate sales form a portrait of the collector, giving unique insight into the private lives of a fascinating array of figures, from titans of industry and scions of politics to famous dancers, renowned decorators, trailblazing art dealers and fashion icons.

The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, 2018

The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller drew over 30,000 visitors to Christie’s Rockefeller Center galleries and achieved $835,111,334, making it the most valuable private collection ever sold at auction. Since then, only the art collection of Paul G. Allen, sold at Christie’s in 2022, has surpassed that total.

The grandson of the Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, David also served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. The collection he built with his wife, Peggy, showcased their diverse passions, from Impressionist and Asian art to European decorative art, Korean porcelain, American history and more.

The Rockefeller collection set records across categories including Latin American art, ceramics and English furniture.

The top lots of the sales were Picasso’s Fillette à la corbeille fleurie, which realised $115,000,000; Monet’s Nymphéas en fleur, which sold for a record $84,687,500; and Matisse’s Odalisque couchée aux magnolias, which fetched $80,750,000. Mr. Rockefeller’s duck decoys proved popular, as well as a gold plaque money clip that sold for $75,000. Proceeds from the sales went to a dozen different charities important to the Rockefeller family.

The Collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, 2009

While cementing his place in the annals of fashion history, Yves Saint Laurent immersed himself in fine and decorative art. Over decades of collecting, Yves Saint Laurent and his long-time partner Pierre Bergé amassed a trove of works that they displayed in Yves Saint Laurent’s famous Paris apartment at 55 rue de Babylone. The collection spanned masterpieces by the 20th century’s greatest artists — Picasso, Matisse, Ingres, Cezanne, Goya — alongside important items of silver, contemporary furniture and ceramics.

The top lots of the sale evinced the breadth of their collection, from a sculpture by Constantin Brancusi that sold for nearly $30 million to an Eileen Gray chair that achieved $21.9 million. At the time, the series of auctions was the largest private collection sale in history, garnering $484 million. All proceeds were divided between the Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent Foundation and an AIDS research fund established by Bergé.

The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection, 2022-2023

With thousands of works across three of the Gettys’ spectacular California homes — their main residence in the Pacific Heights neighbourhood of San Francisco, Temple of Wings in Berkeley and Wheatland in Sacramento — The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection exceeded $200 million, with all proceeds benefitting The Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation for the Arts. One of the top three collections of both fine and decorative art to sell at Christie’s, it underscored the couple’s scholarly and layered approach to collecting.

A diverse range of categories were represented throughout the sales, from furniture and jewellery to textiles, fine art and Chinese porcelain. The top lot of the collection was Mary Cassatt’s Young Lady in a Loge Gazing to Right, which was acquired by the Pola Museum of Art in Hakone, Japan, for $7,489,000, a new artist record for Cassatt.

Additional highlights included a Royal early George III mahogany China cabinet that was commissioned for Queen Charlotte and commanded $2,700,000 — the most expensive piece of furniture in the collection. A double-sided three-seater sofa that once belonged to Rudolf Nureyev achieved $144,900 against a low estimate of $5,000. Both are prime examples of the exquisite provenance and quality that uphold the Getty’s unparalleled collection.

The Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, 2015

The legendary art dealer Robert Hatfield Ellsworth didn’t just secure masterpieces for his clients. He was an avid collector himself. Throughout his 22-room Manhattan apartment where he lived and worked Ellsworth displayed a dazzling array of items. As the first American dealer to visit mainland China after the border opened in the 1970s, Ellsworth championed Chinese furniture, ancient bronzes, fine jade and modern Chinese painting. His interest and expertise extended throughout the canon of Asian art, including Himalayan, Indian and Southeast Asian art and artifacts. He was also a knowledgeable collector of English silver and decorative arts.

His collection, sold across six auctions, earned over $130 million. The top lot was a rare set of four huanghuali horseshoe-back armchairs from the Ming Dynasty that fetched more than $9.6 million. Other coveted items were bronze works from Nepal, Tibet, China and India, spectacular examples of Chinese ceramics, and a scroll by lauded Chinese artist Shi Lu that earned $3,525,000.

Hubert de Givenchy, Collectionneur, 2022

Hubert de Givenchy was a master of haute couture and the exemplar of French elegance. Housed in his residences the Hôtel d'Orrouer in Paris and the Manoir du Jonchet in the Loire Valley, his collection encompassed 17th and 18th-century furniture, modern masterpieces, sculpture, design objects and more.

Across 1,200 lots, the collection achieved more than $123 million. Of particular interest was Givenchy’s extensive collection of works by Giacometti, from sculptures and furniture to a bronze door knocker. Giacometti’s Femme qui march [I] realised one of the highest prices of the sales, selling for €27,169,500. A pair of girandoles attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire achieved $4,956,000, and Joan Miró’s Le Passage de l’oiseau-migrateur realised $6,845,750.

Overall, the collection more than doubled its pre-sale low estimate, set 19 auction records and welcomed over 10,000 visitors to its exhibition in Paris, a testament to Givenchy’s enduring influence.

Rothschild Masterpieces, 2023

Embodying the infamous ‘goût Rothschild,’ a lavish interior style made famous by the Rothschild family in their homes throughout Europe, Rothschild Masterpieces offered important objects from the collection of Baron James de Rothschild, his wife Betty and their sons Baron Alphonse and Baron Gustave. As the first-ever dedicated North American sale of works belonging to the family, the auction highlighted the extraordinary trove of objects amassed across generations. This included important ceramics from Renaissance Italy, European tapestries, silver-gilt sculpture, Old Master paintings, antique jewellery and more.

In total, the series of four sales achieved over $60 million. Of the nearly 600 lots on offer, the top item was Gerrit Dou’s remarkable painting A young woman holding a hard with a boy at a window, which achieved an artist record of $7,068,000. It was closely followed by a pair of Louis XV gilt walnut and white-painted fauteuils once owned by Madame du Barry, which fetched $6,221,000, ten times the low estimate.

The Collection of Mrs. Henry Ford II, 2021

Comprising more than 600 lots, The Collection of Mrs. Henry Ford II incorporated important objects from her homes in Palm Beach, London’s Eaton Square and Turville Grange in Buckinghamshire. The wife of Henry Ford II, the former CEO of Ford Motor Company and grandson of Henry Ford, Kathleen DuRoss Ford was a model and photographer.

Her collection was distinguished by an extensive cache of English furniture, Impressionist and modern art, silverware and decorative objects. The top lots reflected the variety of the collection, including a set of George I silver dinner plates that realised $231,250, a pair of late Louis XV meubles d’appui that earned $846,000 and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Pierreuse, which realized $9.1 million — at the time the highest auction price for the artist in over five years. Overall, the collection achieved $30.6 million, a testament to Mrs. Ford’s decisive eye.

Collection Alberto Pinto, 2017

The renowned interior designer Alberto Pinto’s Paris apartment was a microcosm of his lavish style. Lauded across the world, Pinto designed for esteemed clients including the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia and the Dorchester Hotel in London. Featuring nearly 1000 lots from his opulent home, the objects in the collection ranged from the Renaissance to contemporary art, alongside works of fine silver and classic furniture.

Pinto amassed porcelain services from Portugal, England and France as well as an unparalleled collection of antique table linens. His eye for contemporary design drew him to the French artist Claude Lalanne, whose works counted among the top lots of the sale. Lalanne’s Bureau Croco from 2008 sold for €847,500, while Table Lotus et Singe achieved €463,500 and Tabouret Crocorule realised €439,500. Additional significant works, like Edouard Vuillard’s 1921 painting Lucien Guitry, brought the sale total to €11,859,269.

The Private Collection of Jayne Wrightsman, 2020

Along with her husband, the oil executive Charles B. Wrightsman, Jayne Wrightsman built a renowned collection that highlighted the couple’s keen interest in the French decorative arts. As a trustee and major benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mrs. Wrightsman donated paintings by Delacroix, Vermeer, Rubens and El Greco to the institution and established the Wrightsman Galleries for French Decorative Arts.

As a collector, she was dedicated to living with her items, carefully curating their display throughout the couple’s elegant Fifth Avenue townhouse. Sold across two standalone auctions, the objects from the Wrightsmans’ collection encompassed Old Master paintings and sculpture, Chinese works of art, silver, carpets, European furniture and more. The centrepiece of the sales was Ingres’s Odalisque, which garnered $1,710,000. Signed by Ingres, the Wrightsman Odalisque is likely the version of the artist’s famous Grand Odalisque that he promised to his friend Jean-Pierre-François Gilibert.

In total, the collection realised over $10 million, with the proceeds going to various philanthropic causes.

Property from the Collection of Rudolf Nureyev, 1995

One of the most famous dancers of all time, Rudolf Nureyev was also an impassioned collector. Scouring auctions, souks and antique dealers, he layered his New York City apartment with paintings and sculptures, furniture, textiles, instruments, as well as mementos from his storied career. The sensational sale of his estate offered objects of both personal and historical significance, from celebrated Roman sculptures to costumes and ballet slippers worn by Nureyev on stage.

Many of the highest grossing lots demonstrated his interest in Old Master paintings, like a work by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of George Townshend, Lord de Ferrars, that sold for $772,500. Other popular items showcased his love of luxury, including a Murano glass chandelier that achieved $338,000, over ten times the low estimate, and an Elizabethan oak bedstead, which earned $255,500 against a low estimate of $15,000.

Proceeds from the collection, which totalled $7,945,910, went to the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation in the United States and the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation in Europe. Both organisations are dedicated to the promotion of classical dance.

Betsy Bloomingdale, A Life in Style, 2017

A philanthropic icon and International Best-Dressed List Hall of Famer, Betsy Bloomingdale was the doyenne of Los Angeles society. Known as the consummate host, she entertained figures from Ronald Reagan to Frank Sinatra at the Hollywood Regency villa that she shared with her husband, the department store heir Alfred S. Bloomingdale.

The contents of their Los Angeles home, encompassing fine and decorative art, jewellery and couture, were auctioned in three sales that totalled $6,471,875. The items ranged from important works of Chinese porcelain to furniture by William Haines. The top lot offered was a Diamond Ring by Harry Winston, which fetched $1,927,500. Other highlights included a Chinese doucai jardiniere that achieved $295,000 against a low estimate of $15,000 and a bright London watercolour by Raoul Dufy that sold for $150,000.

The Collection of Raine, Countess Spencer, 2017

A fixture of London society, Raine, Countess Spencer, held many roles throughout her lifetime: Westminster politician, head of the Covent Garden Joint Development Committee and one of the last debutantes to be presented at court.

After her marriage to the 8th Earl Spencer, father of Princess Diana, in 1976, Lady Spencer took on the conservation efforts of the Earl’s ancestral estate Althorp House. The 312 lots offered for sale included Old Master paintings, European furniture, clocks, Chinese jades and a trove of jewellery and accessories.

Totalling nearly £2 million, the sale offered a glimpse into the inner world of a notable figure. The top lots spoke to her iconic style: an 18 carat necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels earned £221,000 against a low estimate of £100,000. Other coveted items included Dutch Golden Age paintings by Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten and a Chinese jade figurine that garnered £62,500.