At the beginning of May, Sotheby’s in Cologne is auctioning off the third part of the estate of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, who died three years ago. It will be the first live auction in the auction house’s new German headquarters in Palais Oppenheim, a spokeswoman said on Friday.
Two tranches of the Lagerfeld estate had already been auctioned off in Monaco and Paris last year. Together they had brought in 18.2 million euros, four times the preliminary estimate.
In Cologne, 300 lots from the estate are to be offered in two live auctions, divided into an evening auction on May 4th and a day auction on May 5th. A further 250 lots will be auctioned online from April 29th to May 6th. There are previews in Munich, Vienna and Cologne.
The preliminary estimate for all 550 lots is around 700,000 euros. The price range is between ten and 80,000 euros. The objects come mainly from Lagerfeld’s last residence in Louveciennes. The 18th-century villa near Versailles was mostly furnished with furniture and advertising posters from his German homeland. A special focus was German art of the early 20th century.
Then there are the famous fingerless gloves, dark sunglasses, suit jackets, shoes and fans. A set of accessories belonging to his cat Choupette, who kept him company during the last eight years of his life, will also be auctioned, including a letter to Choupette written by actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot, a scratching post and a bowl.
Sotheby’s moved into the extensively renovated Palais Oppenheim last September and is now the only international auction house to hold auctions in Germany.(dpa)