The Collector: Pauline Karpidas

The Collector12.03.2025

Pauline Karpidas is known for her significant private collection of Surrealist masterpieces. She was born Pauline Parry, and was raised in working-class Manchester. Karpidas trained as a secretary, modeled, and, in her twenties, moved to Athens and opened a clothing boutique. There, she met her future husband, the Greek construction and shipping magnate Constantinos 'Dinos' Karpidas, who was also a collector of 19th‑century and Impressionist art. Karpidas credited her husband with introducing her to “the beauty of wonderful things.” [1]

In 1974, Karpidas visited the Athens home of legendary Greek-American gallerist Alexander Iolas, best known for discovering Andy Warhol, championing the Surrealists, and creating the blueprint for the mega-gallery. “I just could not believe my eyes, this whole baronial hall was filled with all the great masterpieces, and I had no idea who they were,” she recalled. “It was Max Ernst, Tanguy, Picasso, Dorothea Tanning, Man Ray, Yves Klein, all the greats, and I just said ‘wow!’” She persuaded Iolas out of retirement to advise her burgeoning collection. “That was the start of a great journey with a great mentor,” she said. “He was the one who said, ‘You must train your eye, you must visit every museum in every city, you must read and understand about the twentieth century.’” [Ibid.]

“As Iolas said to Dinos, it will take ten years to put 10 masterpieces together. And it did take 10 years to put those 10 masterpieces together,” Karpidas said. “It wasn’t just about buying a work of art instantly. Instead, you discovered it, you pondered on it, you asked questions about it. … As Iolas said to me, ‘You know, I don’t get out of bed to buy one painting.’” [2]

To this end, Karpidas often cleaned up at major auctions. From the record-breaking 1979 Sotheby’s sale of collector and artist William Copley’s personal collection, she acquired Yves Tanguy’s “Titre inconnu” (1929), Giorgio de Chirco’s “La Guerra” (1916-17), and Max Ernst’s “Portrait d’Appollinaire” (1934). [3] In 1981, she pursued Dalí’s iconic “Le Sommeil,” which first belonged to the poet and patron of Surrealism, Edward James. Karpidas walked away from a bidding war with the painting, as well as Dalí’s “Messanger dans un paysage palladien” (1936). Among the couple’s highest profile acquisitions was Warhol’s painting “200 One Dollar Bills” (1962), which they purchased from the Robert and Ethel C. Scull Collection sale at Sotheby’s in 1986 for $383,000. They sold it in 2009 for more than $43 million, nearly six times its low estimate. [4]

Iolas introduced Karpidas to Claude and François‑Xavier Lalanne, the French duo who straddled the line between design and fine art. [5] She first visited their workshop in Ury, outside Paris, in 1978 and became one of their earliest collectors. Her London home was filled with whimsical custom pieces like a bed featuring copper leaves and crocodile stools that were allegedly faithful replications of a carcass acquired from a zoo, a deal brokered by Niki de Saint Phalle. [6]

Karpidas, in the vein of “grand dame” collectors like Peggy Guggenheim, actively acquires works while acting as a patron for contemporary talent. In the mid-90s, Karpidas transformed a former boat repair garage on the Greek island of Hydra into a small gallery. From 1996 until 2017, she hosted the so-called Hydra Workshop, an annual weekend gathering of artists, curators, collectors and writers. “There is little required from you other than an engagement with art and guests: sunbathe, gossip and swim,” she would tell her artist guests, which included an early show from YBA artists like Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst, and Grayson Perry. [7]

In addition to collecting, Karpidas has long been a benefactor of institutions like the Tate and the Sir John Soane's Museum in London, as well as the New Museum’s education center in New York. In 2012, she made a major donation to the University of Manchester, which included funding for student access programs and a gift of 90 contemporary artworks to the university’s Whitworth Art Gallery.

In October 2023, Sotheby’s Paris held two days of auctions dedicated to works from Karpidas’ Hydra home, which included pieces by Brice Marden, Georg Baselitz, Tracey Emin, and more. The grand total of €35.6 million ($37.6 million) soared past its presale estimate of €11.8 million to €17.1 million, marking the highest value single-owner sale across France that year. [8]

In September 2025, Sotheby’s hosted an auction of pieces from Karpidas’ London home. A handful of works by Magritte were among the 250 lots, including “La Race blanche” (1937); “Tête” (1960), which was acquired in 1987 from Sotheby’s as part of a sale of works from the artist’s widow’s estate; and “Les Menottes de Cuivre” (1936), a reproduction of the Venus de Milo that appeared in the legendary Exposition Surréaliste d’Objets in 1936. Magritte’s late work “La Statue volante” (1940–41) also features the Venus de Milo theme. Karpidas acquired it in 1985 and sold it for $13 million. Iolas exhibited it in a landmark 1959 show at his New York gallery that introduced Magritte to U.S. audiences. [9]

“I have always seen myself as a temporary custodian for their creations, and it feels like the right moment for the pieces that make up my London home to find their next generation of custodians,” Karpidas said. “This is by no means an ending, as I will continue to live among art, read books, collect new works, and support artists.” [10]

SOURCES

[1] Walters, Isolde. “From Manchester Secretary to Surrealist Queen: Pauline Karpidas’s £60m Art Collection Goes Under the Hammer.” The Tatler. September 5, 2025 https://www.tatler.com/article/pauline-karpidas-pound60m-art-collection-goes-under-the-hammer

[2] Baker, Emma. “From Surrealism to Pop: Pauline Karpidas and Alexander Iolas.” Sotheby’s. August 28, 2025 https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/from-surrealism-to-pop-pauline-karpidas-and-alexander-iolas

[3] Palumbo, Jacqui. “Inside the home of Pauline Karpidas, the art-world ‘grande dame’ who could be the last of her kind.” CNN. September 19, 2025
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/04/style/pauline-karpidas-sothebys-sale-surrealism

[4] Kamholz, Roger. “Andy Warhol and '200 One Dollar Bills'” Sotheby’s. November 3, 2013 https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/andy-warhol-and-200-one-dollar-bills

[5] Higgie, Jennifer. “Salon, Farewell.” The World of Interiors. August 6, 2025 https://www.worldofinteriors.com/story/pauline-karpidas-house-greek-island

[6] “Why Claude Lalanne’s Crocodile Series Is So Realistic.” Sotheby’s. December 6, 2017 https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/why-claude-lalannes-crocodile-series-is-so-realistic

[7] Willsher, Kim, “‘Pauline is unique’: patron of Emin and Hirst sells off vast Hydra art collection.” The Guardian. September 3, 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/sep/03/pauline-karpidas-art-collection-hydra-emin-hirst

[8] Carter, Lee. “A Famed Collector Has Parted With the Contemporary Treasures She Stashed on Her Greek Island Paradise, Netting $38 Million.” Artnet. November 7, 2023
https://news.artnet.com/market/pauline-karpidas-art-design-collection-auction-2387556

[9] Carrigan, Margaret. “What Sotheby’s $136 Million Karpidas Sale Reveals About the Market.” Artnet. September 19, 2025
https://news.artnet.com/market/karpidas-sale-results-2690412

[10] Carrigan, Margaret. “Inside Pauline Karpidas’s Legendary Surrealist Collection Bound for Auction.” Artnet. August 4, 2025 https://news.artnet.com/market/pauline-karpidas-surrealist-collection-sothebys-2673130

L: Dorothea Tanning, “Daughters” (1983)
M: Óscar Domínguez, “Exacte sensibilité” (1935); Niki de Saint Phalle dog vase atop Donald Baechler side tables
R: Domínguez, “Le Piano” (1934); Giorgio de Chirico, “Nudo” (1911); Victor Brauner, “Nous sommes trahis” (1934)
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Left wall: top to bottom: Domínguez, “Le Piano” (1934); de Chirico, “Nudo” (1911); Brauner, “Nous sommes trahis” (1934)
Center wall, left: Pablo Picasso, “Buste d'homme” (1968); Leonora Carrington, “The Hour of the Angelus” (1949); Salvador Dalí, “Cannibalisme des objets, tête de femme avec soulier” (1937)
Middle: Magritte’s “La Statue volante” (1958); André Masson, “La Femme paralytique” (1939)
Right: Francis Picabia, “Deux amies” (1940-41); Yves Tanguy, “Titre inconnu” (1928); Louise Bourgeois, “Echo I, 2007”
Jean Arp, “Feuille se reposant” (1959) and ​​Henri Laurens, “Baigneuse (fragment)” (1931) sit atop a Donald Baechler console (1995)
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L: Picasso; Carrington; Dalí
M: Magritte; Masson
R: Picabia; Tanguy; Bourgeois
Sculptures by Arp and Laurens sit atop a Baechler console
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Claude Lalanne, “Unique Table Aux Serpents” (2017)
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Pauline and Constantinos Karpidas
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At left are works by Max Ernst, Man Ray, and Magritte. At right is Magritte, “Madame Récamier de David” (1967)
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7. On a bookcase by Mattia Bonetti (2011): François-Xavier Lalanne, “Ganesh” (2001); Henri Laurens, “Allégorie” (1945); Laurens, “Femme couchée” (1925) (below tv); Man Ray, “Non-Euclidean Object”; Magritte, “Tête (1960)”; Man Ray, “Pêchage” (1969-72); Laurens, “Tête de femme” (1920); Laurens, “La Corbeille” (1939); A South Arabian Alabaster Head, Qataban, circa 3rd Century B.C/1st Century A.D.; Man Ray, “Narcissus (Les Mains libres)” (1971); A Roman Marble Head of Meleager, circa 1st Century A.D.; Jacques Lipchitz, “La Femme au serpent”; René Magritte, “La Race blanche” (1967); Jeff Koons, “French Coach Couple” (1986)
On the wall, right: Magritte, “Le Monde perdu” (1928); Magritte, “Untitled (Le Sens propre)” (1927); and Dalí, “Hommage à Newton” (1969)
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Magritte, “La Race blanche” (1967)
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From left, top to bottom: Magritte, “Tête (1960)”; Laurens, “La Corbeille” (1939); A South Arabian Alabaster Head, Qataban, circa 3rd Century B.C/1st Century A.D.; Man Ray, “Narcissus (Les Mains libres)” (1971); A Roman Marble Head of Meleager, circa 1st Century A.D.; Laurens, “La Centauresse” (1953); Laurens, “Femme couchée” (1928). In the corner: Lucio Fontana, “Concetto spaziale, Natura” (1959-60)
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Magritte, “Madame Récamier de David”
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A “Diamond Dust Shoes” painting by Andy Warhol is above a Claude Lalanne bed and tables by Bonetti
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Claude Lalanne, “Unique Structure Végétale Bed” (2012)
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A Warhol painting, a Claude Lalanne structure, and drawers by Bonetti
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Salvador Dalí, “Portrait de Gala Galarina” (1941); Niki de Saint Phalle, “Ganesh” (1996); Claude Lalanne, “Caroline Enceinte” (2012)
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Max Ernst, “Loplop présente” (1929-68) and a desk by André Dubreuil (2012)
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Picasso, “Les Métamorphoses d'Ovide [Eight Works]” (1931), banisters and bookcase by Bonetti, and a lantern by Lalanne.
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Andy Warhol, “Man Ray” (1974). Atop a custom sideboard by Elizabeth Garouste and Bonetti (1995) sits Milena Muzquiz, “A Person's Head and Neck 2” (2017)
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Claude Lalanne, "Unique Choupatte" (2003) atop a table by Diego Giacometti (1963). Couch by Bonetti (2011)
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Francis Picabia, “Untitled (Espagnole)” (1925-26)
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Bonetti door mirror (2011)
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Warhol, “Portrait of Pauline Karpidas” (1978)
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Karpidas (left) with Tracey Emin. Photograph: Johnnie Shand Kydd
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Works on paper by Marlene Dumas and a bronze statue, “Mary Magdalene,” by Kiki Smith
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Barbara Kruger, “Hate,” “Good,” and “Evil” (2001)
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A portrait of Constantine Karpidas by Warhol
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Georg Baselitz, “Untitled (Weiblicher Akt)” (1977), above a table by Bonetti (2009)
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François-Xavier Lalanne, “Oiseau d’Argent” (1990)
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