Temple of Style: The Barbara Jakobson Collection

Temple of Style: The Barbara Jakobson Collection celebrates a remarkable life lived in close dialogue with art. Spanning Post-War and Contemporary art, Design, Photography, and Prints and Multiples, the collection reflects Barbara Jakobson’s extraordinary connoisseurship, as well as the joy and rigour of inhabiting art daily. As a tastemaker, patron, and longtime trustee of the Museum of Modern Art, Jakobson played a pivotal role in shaping the New York art scene, championing artists at critical moments in their careers and forging relationships that endured for decades.

Her discerning eye for colour, form, and innovation united works by Jeff Koons, Jenny Holzer, and Robert Mapplethorpe with a distinguished photography collection including William Eggleston, Horst P. Horst and Nan Goldin.

Design was foundational to her vision. Architectural elements conceived by Emilio Ambasz — including a bespoke L‑shaped bookshelf created specifically for her home — demonstrate her commitment to design as both structure and expression. Iconic furnishings such as the DS‑600 modular sofa by Ueli Berger, Eleanora Peduzzi‑Riva and Heinz Ulrich anchored her interiors and defined spaces as dynamic environments for art.

Installed with a curator’s sensibility, Jakobson’s townhouse functioned as a living exhibition — an ‘ongoing autobiographical exercise,’ in her own words. Now offered at auction, Temple of Style: The Barbara Jakobson Collection presents over 200 works, with additional highlights appearing in the concurrent Post-War to Present sale, honouring a collecting legacy where art and design were inseparable.

Explore Temple of Style: The Barbara Jakobson Collection

Select highlights on preview at Rockefeller Center galleries, the remaining lots available for viewings at our Brooklyn warehouse upon appointment only.