Christie’s will present The Collection of Baron Diego von Buch in London on 5 June 2025. Baron von Buch (1941 to 2023) had a long career in global finance, having trained as an engineer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and later earning an MBA from Harvard. Spanning the 11th to the 21st centuries, the collection reflects his eclectic collecting interests.
Comprising about 100 lots drawn from his houses in Cap Ferrat, Milan, St Moritz and London, the sale features Modern and Contemporary art, design and prints, furniture, decorative arts and silver. Estimates range from £300 to £800,000, and the pre-sale exhibition in London runs from 29 May to 4 June.
The sale is led by the first complete set of Claude Lalanne’s Ginkgo dining suite in a rare green-painted finish to come to the market, a variation the artist used on only a few of her works. Lalanne drew inspiration from the flora and fauna surrounding her home in Ury, France, and in her work the oversized ginkgo leaves draw on the aesthetics of Art Nouveau and Surrealism. Yves Saint Laurent once wrote of her, “ What touches me about her is her ability to combine craftsmanship and poetry in the same requirement.”
Modern and Contemporary art is led by Fernand Léger’s Composition au damier (Composition jaune et noir) of 1929, which hung in the Baron’s Milan home, along with works by Anish Kapoor, Christo and Max Ernst. Sculpture was a particular passion, and the sale includes works by Fernando Botero, Jean-Michel Folon and Barry Flanagan.
Alongside the works by Les Lalanne from his Cap Ferrat home, the Modern Design section includes pieces by Lino Tagliapietra, Ron Arad and Marc Fish. The sale forms part of Christie’s programme for the London Summer Season.
(Press Release)
