Eleni Savvaidi

Behind the doors of certain residences, life becomes an act of curation. More than shelter, these spaces are stages for passion, taste, and legacy — homes where every wall, every object, speaks of a collector’s soul. Few embody this idea more fully than Pauline Karpidas, the legendary patron whose London apartment has long been a vivid expression of her eye, her friendships, and her fearless embrace of art.

A Home as a Living Museum

Stepping inside her home, one is transported not simply into an interior, but into a private museum of twentieth-century creativity. Salvador Dalí converses with René Magritte; Picasso and Francis Picabia share space with Andy Warhol; sculptures by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne stand beside vibrant works by Niki de Saint Phalle. Velvet-upholstered seating in bold hues rests against a hand-tufted tiger-pattern carpet, while gilt frames and surrealist compositions rise to the ceiling like an intimate salon of the avant-garde. The effect is both exhilarating and intimate: a collector’s universe where life and art are inseparably intertwined.

THE NUCLEUS OF KARPIDAS’S LONDON GATHERINGS, FEATURING A BOOKCASE, DINING CHAIRS, MIRRORED OVERDOORS AND WINDOW REVEALS DESIGNED BY BONETTI. Photo courtesy of Barney Hindle.

What makes such spaces compelling is not excess, but intention. Each acquisition tells a story — of friendships with artists like Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, and Sarah Lucas, of patronage at pivotal moments, of a discerning eye that sought not trophies but resonance. Pauline has always described herself as a custodian rather than an owner:

“It feels like the right moment for the pieces that make up my London home to find their next generation of custodians.”


ONE SALON WALL SHOWCASING PAINTINGS BY PABLO PICASSO, RENÉ MAGRITTE, FRANCIS PICABIA, YVES TANGUY, ANDRÉ MASSON, LEONORA CARRINGTON AND SALVATOR DALÍ. Photo courtesy of Barney Hindle.

A Legacy in Motion

This September, more than 250 works from her collection will be offered at Sotheby’s London, carrying a combined estimate of over £60 million ($81 million) — the highest ever for a single-owner collection in Sotheby’s European history. The sale will offer not only masterpieces by Dalí, Magritte, and Picasso, but also the very spirit of a woman often compared to Peggy Guggenheim: bold, visionary, and insatiably curious.

Yet this is no conclusion. Karpidas continues to collect, to read, to nurture artists, to live among works that inspire dialogue and wonder. Her residences — from Athens to Hydra and London — have always been more than architectural spaces; they are living archives of culture and patronage, animated by books, conversation, and imagination.

For today’s collectors, her home is a reminder that the greatest luxury is not possession but dialogue — to dwell among art is to wake each day inside a masterpiece of one’s own making.

At Greece Sotheby’s International Realty, we understand that for the world’s most discerning individuals, a residence is more than architecture. It is a canvas upon which taste, history, and personal vision unfold. Pauline Karpidas shows us that the most extraordinary homes are not simply lived in — they are lived with.