‘Elegance personified’: why Anne H. Bass is a forever style icon

Beauty knew no bounds for Anne Hendricks Bass, the philanthropist and dedicated patron of the arts, who filled her New York and Texas homes with treasures and rarities across categories, continents and centuries. Notoriously reserved, Mrs. Bass let her works do the talking. Melodic and monumental paintings by Mark Rothko, Claude Monet and Frank Stella; dazzling jewellery by Van Cleef & Arpels, JAR and David Webb; and historic furniture by Thomas Chippendale, William Vile and John Cobb serve as testaments to Mrs. Bass’s unparalleled eye for beauty and appreciation of craftsmanship in all its forms.

‘Anne was always her own person. She didn’t necessarily follow the guidelines of what other people were doing, which is what made her such a great style icon and collector of beautiful things,’ says Claibourne Poindexter, Christie’s Senior Specialist, Jewellery. ‘While that was a very rare thing to do back then, it’s even rarer nowadays.’ 

Three years after 12 masterpieces from her Fifth Avenue apartment fetched $363.1 million at auction, and mere weeks after the sale of 19 storied works from her Fort Worth house, Mrs. Bass’s extraordinary vision continues to reveal itself. This summer, a curated selection of handbags, jewellery, prints, photographs, silver, furniture and decorative arts from her legendary Manhattan home will be offered in Anne H. Bass: The New York Interiors, an online sale from 4-18 June. More than 20 spectacular pieces of Mrs. Bass’s jewellery will additionally be featured in Magnificent Jewels on 17 June at Christie’s New York. The breadth of lots reflects their owner’s exacting and original approach in adorning not only her abode but also herself. ‘Her style was elegance personified. It was never too much. It was always just right,’ says Poindexter. ‘She was so effortless and carried herself perfectly.’

Inside Anne H. Bass’s Fifth Avenue apartment

Much like the objects she gravitated towards, Mrs. Bass collaborated with the top names in architecture and design to bring the vision for her residences to life. In 1970, she and then-husband Sid Bass (both in their 20s) commissioned Paul Rudolph to design an ultra-contemporary home in Fort Worth, Texas, to complement their cutting-edge painting and sculpture collection. In the early 1980s, Mrs. Bass acquired an apartment in New York, where she spent four years working with Mark Hampton, a fellow Indiana native and lifelong friend, to transform the interiors of the 1920s Rosario Candela-designed apartment she purchased at 960 Fifth Avenue.

‘Anne’s New York apartment was so pointedly different from most of the interiors that Mark Hampton is known for,’ says Allison Cox, Christie’s Head of Sale, English Furniture & Works of Art. Hampton, whose clients included American socialites and presidents, was celebrated for conceiving grand, architectural spaces, often in warm tones and layered with textures and prints. While Mrs. Bass’s New York apartment is a decidedly more restrained project from the famed designer, what comes through clearly is their shared passion for integrating antiques with contemporary pieces.

‘Even though she was incorporating exceptional 18th-century pieces of furniture, the interior still felt so modern,’ says Cox. Amongst the most important historic decorative arts offerings in the sale are a set of six George III cream-painted and parcel-gilt open armchairs by Thomas Chippendale, as well as early George III carved mahogany armchairs by royal cabinetmaker William Vile (lots 35 and 37), which were once in the Dorset, England, estate, St. Giles’s House. Cox continues, ‘Given that this was when [the maximalist style of] Mario Buatta and chintz were at their peak, Anne’s taste was especially impressive and ahead of its time. She created her own style, and her home became one of the most revered interiors in New York.’

Amongst the modern furniture highlights are Hampton’s bespoke designs, for example, a pair of cream-painted and faux-marble decorated dining tables, which were positioned in the mirrored dining room. ‘Between the beautiful Monet Water Lilies, which hung above the fireplace, and the pinprick light, eating by candlelight in the dining room was evidently the most transportational experience,’ describes Elizabeth Seigel, Christie’s Head of Private and Iconic Collections.

The jewels and handbags that made Mrs. Bass a style icon for the centuries

‘No matter who made what for her, Anne Bass bought the best,’ says Poindexter. ‘She really understood what fine craftsmanship and great design meant in jewellery: just like a great piece of furniture or art, jewellery was a form of decorative art that you could wear.’ During the 1960s and 1970s, Mrs. Bass collected premier pieces by David Webb (many of her jewels are included in Ruth Peltason’s seminal 2013 monograph, David Webb: The Quintessential American Jeweler) as well as by Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari. The top jewellery lot in Mrs. Bass’s collection, which she was frequently photographed wearing, is a pair of diamond pendant earrings by Van Cleef & Arpels. Each earring is designed as a cluster of marquise, pear and circular-cut diamonds suspending a D-colour pear-shaped diamond (the weight of each is 11.83 and 11.94 carats respectively).

Later in life, she became an avid JAR collector. While today jewels by the French maker are highly coveted for their rarity and inherent artistry, ‘buying JAR jewels in Paris in the early 1990s was even more rarefied than it is now,’ notes Poindexter. Mrs. Bass’s exquisite examples include an emerald, sapphire and diamond necklace and numerous asymmetric earring designs, amongst others. She was also drawn to antique jewels, ‘which she wore so well,’ says Poindexter, adding that regardless of when it was made, ‘her jewellery never aged.’

Bass’s couture wardrobe (many pieces of which have been gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute) doubled as a canvas for her equally spectacular jewels and accessories. Anne H. Bass: The New York Interiors auction features five classic Hermès Kelly bags (four of which are Kelly 28s) in box, Courchevel and ostrich leathers. All are in extremely good condition for their age, yet with the subtle patina contemporary Hermès collectors craves, notes Max Brownawell, Christie’s Head of Department, Handbags & Accessories.

From head to toe, exterior architecture to interior design, every aspect of Mrs. Bass’s aesthetic existence was considered. ‘I’ve never seen a style icon that has made such a wonderful effort to ensconce everybody in her world,’ says Poindexter. Whether in the comfort of her sophisticated home, or at a glamorous fundraising gala, the elegant Mrs. Bass never failed to leave a lasting impression.