Collection of Sadruddin Aga Khan heads to auction

By Siddhi Jain

New Delhi, Aug 20  The remarkable private collection of Sadruddin Aga Khan and his wife, will head to auction on October 1, 2020, global auction house Christie’s announced. The couple are the son and daughter-in-law of Aga Khan III, president of the All-India Muslim League during India’s pre-Independence era.

According to the auction house, visionaries, and ahead of their time, Prince Sadruddin and Princess Catherine Aga Khan have been the discreet patrons of many major philanthropic projects, aimed at preserving cultural and natural sites, from Egyptian temples to the Alps. “Over a period spanning decades, the Aga Khan’s gathered an outstanding collection from a variety of cultures across the globe, reflecting their essence with this incredibly universal, yet very personal selection of fascinating objects and masterpieces,” it said.

The highly recognised French interior designer Henri Samuel had been entrusted with the display of the collection in their Geneva home, Bellerive Castle.

“Each work of art demonstrates the collector’s open-cultural approach, representing a rich cultural history, with century-old objects, alongside works from leading artists and commissioned pieces from artists the couple maintained close friendships with,” it added.

Christie’s said that the true passion for the arts that united this couple is illustrated in their curation of the collection, and the confrontations and juxtapositions the objects impose on the surrounding objects. The 17th and 18th century furniture interact with pieces by Diego Giacometti, Claude Lalanne or Philippe Hiquily, antique paintings are in dialogue with Picasso’s oeuvre, while Orientalist pieces resonate with works by Isabelle de Borchgrave.

Several objects which adorned Bellerive Castle underline the importance of classical decorative arts in this collection, such as a pair of royal armchairs, dating from the period of late George III and a Gothic tapestry from the early 16th century. Among the highlights of the collection are works by Pablo Picasso from 1929.