Christie's are deeply honoured to be offering ninety-five exceptional works from the personal collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan. These paintings were among their personal favourites, selected by them to decorate the walls of Chateau de Bellerive, their home on the shores of Lake Geneva. They include Indian, Persian, and Ottoman works, featuring examples by celebrated artists such as Dust Muhammad, Basawan, Ghulam Ali Khan, Bishan Singh, Reza Abbasi, and Levni, as well as paintings from iconic groups such as the St Petersburg Muraqqa', the Fraser Album and the Polier albums.
All are works of great artistic presence and beauty, qualities that attracted the discerning eyes of Prince Sadruddin and Princess Catherine Aga Khan over the decades of their collecting. The majority of these works were acquired between the early 1960s and the 1980s, a period when a wealth of important material was available on the market from the great collections of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Many have been studied and published by leading scholars, and have featured in ground-breaking exhibitions. For their exceptional beauty, rarity, historical importance, and provenance, these works are of a calibre rarely found in today’s market.
Discover the auction in person at our King Street galleries from 24 to 28 October. Highlights will tour to our New York galleries, 12 to 17 September; Zurich 23 to 26 September; and to Christie’s Dubai from 6 to 10 October.