Property from the Estate of Brooke Astor at Sotheby's New York - Fine & Decorative Arts and Jewelry - 24+25 September 2012
Further to our announcement earlier this year, Sotheby's New York
auction of Property from the Estate of Brooke Astor - beloved
philanthropist and legendary figure in New York society - will be held
on 24 & 25 September 2012. The sale will comprise fine and decorative
art from Mrs. Astor's Park Avenue apartment in New York City and her
Westchester County estate, Holly Hill, as well as a selection of
jewelry from her personal collection. The approximately 800 items in
the sale will be on exhibition in Sotheby's York Avenue galleries
beginning 17 September.
In keeping with her unwavering commitment to numerous New York
institutions and causes, Mrs. Astor selected a number of charitable
organizations to benefit from her estate, including The New York
Public Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Pierpont Morgan
Library, The Animal Medical Center of New York, and New York City
Schools, in addition to various charities in Maine.
As Mrs. Astor surrounded herself with objects she loved, each of the
works on offer this September reflects her life and passions: from
Chinese lacquer furniture, clocks, mirror paintings and export
porcelain that recall her early years in Asia while her father was
stationed abroad, to the drawings and paintings of dogs - many
depicting her own - that demonstrate her love for her animals, to the
lion brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels that evokes the iconography of The
New York Public Library, an institution she championed for decades.
The rooms and contents of both residences display a distinctive mix of
comfort and refinement, and reveal a woman of elegance and grace who
would come to embody New York society during her lifetime.
