Barry Humphries: The Personal Collection

Sale Overview

Christie’s is honoured to be entrusted with the sale of The Personal Collection of Barry Humphries in London, February 2025. Best known for his comedic personas, this extraordinary collection bears witness to Barry Humphries’ taste and his thirst for knowledge, from the fin de siècle period to the present day.

Barry Humphries AC CBE (1934–2023) was a world-renowned performer, best known for his now immortal characters Dame Edna Everage and Les Patterson, but behind these very public personas Barry was an inveterate and impulsive collector. He started collecting in his teen years in Melbourne, Australia developing a passion which lasted until his death.

The sale brings together a superb selection of books and manuscripts, Australian paintings, Victorian and 19th-century art and Impressionist and modern art. Headlining the sale is Charles Conder’s arresting Sand Dunes at Ambleteuse, which leads an unrivalled collection by the artist. Additional highlights include an inscribed copy of Oscar Wilde’s Importance of Being Earnest and Jean Delville’s magnificent L'oubli des Passions.

Explore the auction in person at our King Street Galleries from 7 to 12 February.

How to register and bid

Auction times

13 Feb 10:30 AM (GMT) Lots 1-243

Our specialist’s selection

Brought to you by

Benedict Winter

Associate Director, Specialist | Private & Iconic Collections

Benedict joined Christie’s in 2015 following a degree in History of Art at the University of York, and previous experience at several London galleries, the National Trust and a New York art advisory. Previously part of the Interiors department, he re-joined the Private Collections department in 2020. Benedict has handled many private collections in Interiors including Property from Faringdon House, Oxfordshire, the Collection of the Late Mrs Marcella Rossi, Property from the Collection of the late Leonard and Roxanne Rosoman. He has also overseen several single owner sales including Seward Kennedy’s Cabinet of Curiosities in 2016 and Peter Petrou: Tales of the Unexpected in 2019, as well as assisting on Iconic sales such as the Margaret Thatcher, Audrey Hepburn and Raine, Countess Spencer auctions.

Olivia Wilson

Cataloguer and Sale Coordinator | Private & Iconic Collections

Olivia joined Christie’s in 2022 as a Sale Coordinator in the Private & Iconic Collections department, also becoming a Cataloguer for the department in 2023. Olivia has handled a number of notable single owner collection sales, including The Robin and Rupert Hambro Collection, Ancient to Modern Art from the Mougins Museum of Classical Art and The Pattie Boyd Collection.

Olivia holds a Masters Degree in Art Business at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.