$200m Sydell Miller Collection coming up at Sotheby's
September 20 2024

Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Sotheby's New York have announced the sale of $200m worth of art from the collection of the eyelash and haircare mogul Sydell Miller (d. 2024) in November 2024. Spanning over 90 lots, works on the block will include high-value paintings by Monet, Picasso (pictured), Kandinsky and Matisse.
According to their website:
After selling her company, with a renewed sense of time and energy, she turned her focus to family, philanthropy and collecting. Informed by countless family visits to galleries, museums and auctions, Miller built the foundations of the extraordinary collection to follow. Alongside her pursuit of fine art, Miller also began collecting design. Her initial focus in these formative years was on iconic French eighteenth-century furniture and European design, particularly the French Art Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s. Guided by her impeccable eye for beauty and craftsmanship, she sought out pieces that captured the elegance and refinement of that era. Over time, Miller’s collecting interests broadened to include not only historic masterpieces but also daring contemporary Design works. She began integrating modern and post-war design into her collection, acquiring pieces by such celebrated designers as François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, and – as her passion for decorative arts and design evolved – she showed increasing interest in works by emerging Contemporary designers, including Robert Goosens, David Wiseman, Joseph Walsh and others. What distinguished Miller as a collector is how she lived with these works – fine art and design were not separate categories but coexisted harmoniously in her spaces. Throughout her pioneering career, her self-avowed aim was always to promote “individual expression and creativity”, and this aesthetic is at the heart of her collection.