The late socialite Caroline Lee Bouvier Radziwill, who passed earlier this year at the age of 85, may be best remembered for being the younger sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. But the way she lived her life—befriending artists, authors, fashion designers, photographers and other luminaries of her era—was far more interesting. All of this will be on full display come October, when Christie’s will auction parts of her estate.
“Lee Radziwill is remembered by all who knew her as a symbol of sophistication and connoisseurship, with a fascinating life story,” says Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas. “It will be Christie’s honor to share Ms. Radziwill’s personal collection with the world this October, as we invite an international audience of collectors, designers, tastemakers, and admirers to join us as we pay tribute to such an extraordinary life and legacy.”
The contents of the sale are yet to be released, but it will supposedly include Radziwill’s personal collection of photographs, jewelry, books, clothes, and fine art. She was a princess, having married Prince Stanisław Albrecht Radziwill, was chums with Andy Warhol and Peter Beard, and worked as a public relations executive for Giorgio Armani. So, the lots are expected to be nothing less than blue-chip.
This is mirrored in the images of her penthouse in New York, where Radziwill outfitted it to the nines with possessions she’s accumulated throughout her rich, varied life. “If I really can be said to have a personal style, I think it is reflected in my taste for the exotic and the unexpected,” she once exclaimed. “I like to create rooms which are essentially traditional—and then add touches of the bizarre and the delicious.”
Left image: Photo courtesy of Christie’s/Ron Galella Collection/ Getty Images
