ART NEWS
Karl Lagerfeld Collection to Sell at Sotheby’s in Monaco
Sotheby’s has announced it will offer items from the estate of German designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died in February 2019, later this year at its Monaco outpost. The executor for the Chanel designer’s estate has chosen the auction house for the valuation of works from Lagerfeld’s eight residences across France and Monaco, a process which will take two months to complete, according to Sotheby’s statement.
Sotheby’s has reported that the collection will be sold in the second half of 2021, though details of the items expected to come up for sale have yet to be disclosed. Sotheby’s said the grouping will “reflect the designer’s strong connections with Monaco and the principality’s sovereign family.”
Lagerfeld, who lived in Monaco for a decade up until his death forged close ties with members of the country’s royal family, dressing Princess Caroline of Hanover for several decades. The designer also lived in a historic mansion known as La Vigie, gifted to him by Prince Rainier, the late monarch of Monaco, in exchange for restoring it.
“The auction will pay tribute to this unique and exceptionally creative designer, a major figure in the worlds of fashion and art,” Pierre Mothes, vice president of Sotheby’s France, said in a statement.
Over the course of his life Lagerfeld amassed a collection art and furniture ranging from the 18th century to the modern era. In 2000, he sold off his collection of 18th-century French furniture and artworks at Christie’s for $28.5 million. In 2003, Sotheby’s sold his collection of Art Deco works in Paris for $8 million.
