The art collection assembled by a Palm Beach powerhouse of the beauty industry is estimated by Sotheby’s to fetch a total in the region of $200m during sales this autumn, the auction house announced Thursday (19 September). The collection belonged to Sydell Miller, who was called a “Self-Made Eyelash and Hair Care Mogul” in her New York Times obituary following her death in February, aged 86. Miller started the false eyelash company Ardell with her husband, Arnold Miller, with whom she later co-founded Matrix Essentials in 1980. After his death, she took over as the company’s chief executive. Miller used much of her fortune to build a world-class art collection.
The most valuable lot of the collection going up for sale at Sotheby’s is Claude Monet’s Nymphéas (around 1914-17), estimated to sell for around $60m. The sale will mark the painting’s first time at auction, according to Sotheby’s.
A portrait by Pablo Picasso called La Statuaire (1925) is a portrait of a female sculptor, shown opposite a portrait bust that she may have either shaped herself, or is viewing for inspiration. The painting is Picasso’s first depicting a woman artist, according to the auction house. La Statuaire is estimated to sell in the region of $30m. Another work by Picasso, a bronze titled Tête de femme (1951), carries a $7m to $10m estimate.
Another highlight from the more than 90 lots from Miller's collection that are headed to auction is Weisses Oval (White Oval) (1921) by Wassily Kandinsky, which Sotheby’s says hasn’t been seen at auction in more than 50 years and is estimated to sell for between $15m and $20m. Other artists who are represented in the collection include Henry Moore, Yves Klein, Henri Matisse and François-Xavier Lalanne.
Miller’s collection will go on display at Sotheby’s locations in London, Paris, Taipei, Los Angeles and Hong Kong before its display in New York ahead of the November sales. The collection will have a dedicated evening auction, then a subsequent day sale and online sales. A selection of her jewelry will be included in Sotheby’s sales in December.
Before her death, Miller sold eight works at Christie’s in 2017 with all proceeds going to the non-profit medical centre Cleveland Clinic Heart & Vascular Institute. Miller sat on the Ohio centre’s board of trustees. She also sold a smaller collection of art at Christie's in 2021, including Joan Mitchell’s Rain (1989) which sold for 6.6m (with fees).
On Wednesday (18 September) Christie’s announced it had secured the collection of interior designer Mica Ertegun for its autumn sales in New York, led by a René Magritte with a $95m estimate. Both of the leading auction houses will be looking to bounce back from the first half of the year, which saw slumping sales of fine art.