Although her Surrealist paintings remain the jewel of her collection, Karpidas moved with the times. She supported the YBA movement in the 1990s and invited Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst and Grayson Perry to summer ‘workshops’ on the Greek island of Hydra, where she and Dinos kept another legendary home. ‘There is little required from you other than an engagement with art and guests: sunbathe, gossip and swim,’ she would advise artists.
In the 2000s, Karpidas began to sell off some of her impressive finds- and the prices these works fetched show just how astute a collector she had become. In 2009, she sold Warhol’s ‘One Dollar Bills’ painting in New York for almost £32m. She and her husband had acquired the work in 1986 for £285,000.
Now 81, Pauline resides in the US, where her son Panos is based. Though media-shy, Karpidas has revealed a little of the motivation behind her decision to offload her outstanding and eclectic collection. She said that she had always seen herself as the ‘temporary custodian’ of her artworks. ‘It feels like the right moment for the pieces that make up my London home to find their next generation of custodians,’ she told Sotheby’s. ‘This is by no means an ending, as I will continue to live among art, read books, collect new works and support artists, as I have done for so many years now.’
