Sotheby’s will offer A Vision: Property from the Collection of Michelle Smith across two dedicated auctions in New York this April, comprising some 400 lots spanning 20th and 21st-century design, fine art, jewelry and handbags. A live auction takes place on 22 April, with a concurrent online sale open for bidding from 16 to 27 April.
Michelle Smith was a Washington D.C. businesswoman, arts patron and philanthropist, and the daughter of real estate developer Robert H. Smith and artist Clarice Smith. She served as vice president of product design and development for Charles E. Smith Residential Realty and its successor Archstone-Smith, and supported institutions including the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution and the Aspen Institute. Much of the collection was assembled for her penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown.
The live sale is led by design, with works by François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, Alberto and Diego Giacometti, Jean-Michel Frank, Pierre Chareau, Lucie Rie and Tiffany Studios. An Alberto Giacometti ‘Égyptienne’ table lamp in pink plaster from 1933, the only pink version documented in the Fondation Giacometti database, is estimated at $300,000 to 500,000.
Works by Les Lalanne form a defining focus, including a unique Choupatte by Claude Lalanne and two Moutons de Laine by François-Xavier Lalanne (estimates $500,000 to 700,000 each), a 1993 ‘ Crocodile’ armchair by Claude Lalanne (est. $600,000 to 900,000), and a Jean-Michel Frank cabinet clad in parchment (est. $400,000 to 600,000). A Tiffany Studios ‘ Poppy’ table lamp is estimated at $180,000 to 240,000.
The fine art selection is anchored by two works by Edmund de Waal personally commissioned by Smith, A Guide for the Perplexed (est. $80,000 to 120,000) and Lebensstürme (est. $150,000 to 200,000), alongside Antony Gormley’s Stand I (est. $350,000 to 450,000) and two table-size sculptures by Alexander Calder, Red Pennant from 1966 (est. $120,000 to 180,000) and Broken Wings from 1967 (est. $180,000 to 220,000).
The jewelry offering centres on 19 pieces by the Munich house Hemmerle, described as the largest single-owner collection of the maker to appear at auction, with estimates from $15,000 to 150,000, alongside mid-century pieces by Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier. The online sale further features Hermès handbags, including Kelly and Birkin designs, with estimates ranging from $500 to 28,000.
(Press Release)
