Reed and Delphine Krakoff have long been known for their collection of opulent houses, from Jackie Kennedy’s childhood home to their historic 18th-century property in Paris.
Indeed, Tiffany & Co.’s chief artistic officer and his French-born interior designer wife even released a book at one point, giving a peek inside their then six homes, each carefully designed to showcase the Krakoffs’ vast collection of art and furniture that has been sourced from all over the world.
Now, they’ve gone one step further and are offering some 150 design and art pieces that they amassed over the past two decades for sale at auction at Sotheby’s this Wednesday.
The reason they’re looking to part company with all these treasures? The interior design fanatics believe “collecting is a transient process,” constantly challenging their aesthetic choices. In other words, time to clear some space for further collecting.
As for what’s about to hit the auction block, there will be pieces by the likes of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Diego Giacometti, Jean Royère, Harry Bertoia, Jean-Michel Frank, Charlotte Perriand, Mattia Bonetti and Damien Hirst — among many others.
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The most expensive lot is a small group of Sixties sheep statues by French artist François-Xavier Lalanne, known as “Moutons de Laine.” They’re expected to sell for anything between $700,000 and $1 million. There’s also a single rare black sheep by Lalanne with a $400,000 to $600,000 guide price.
“We started collecting Lalanne about 15 years ago when there was really no Lalanne on the market. Over the last 15 years we’ve collected many, many pieces and spent time with them. We’re lucky enough to really get to know them a bit and see their work and see them working,” said the former executive creative director of Coach.
Other standout pieces include a Hermès leather-clad settee by famed French designer Jean Michel-Frank and a Seventies Harry Bertoia bush that stood center stage in their Hamptons garden for many years. The former will set you back between $200,000 and $300,000, while the latter has a guide price of $400,000 to $600,000.
“I’d never seen a piece that large and we found out later that it was the largest piece [Bertoia] created. That moment when we saw it we knew it was something that was perfect for our collection,” added Reed.
Last year, the Krakoffs finally sold Lasata, their elegant Hamptons mansion famous for being Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ childhood summer home. The final sales price has not yet been made public, but it was last asking just below $30 million, down from the original $39 million sales price.
These days, they spend much of their time at their 52-acre estate Clark House in New Canaan, Conn. They also have a house in Paris’ Left Bank neighborhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and two grand townhouses on New York’s Upper East Side.