Spanning nearly 800 lots, Irene Roosevelt Aitken’s collection reflects a lifetime devoted to European connoisseurship at its most exacting and opulent. Christie's Images Ltd.

Christie’s upcoming auctions of the holdings of philanthropist and patron of the arts Irene Roosevelt Aitken tell the story of a deeply refined eye. Spanning some 800 lots, the collection includes Fragonard drawings, Romney portraits, Savonnerie carpets, Louis XV giltwood chairs, Meissen porcelain and antique European firearms—each piece a testament to Aitken’s taste for European connoisseurship at its most opulent. With three live auctions slated for February 11-13, plus two online sales, the dissolution of her collection will reveal whether the haute billionaire appetite for such ornate fare still holds sway in the era of Mahdavi minimalism. An exhibition opens tomorrow (Feb. 7) at Christie’s New York headquarters, and the auction house has cleverly arranged the offerings in room-like settings akin to the way Irene lived with her treasures, offering a rare glimpse into a bygone era of taste and luxury.

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“Her collection is extraordinary in terms of connoisseurship; the consistency of superlative quality across so many categories remains unsurpassed,” Christie’s deputy chairman Will Strafford told Observer, pointing out the impeccable provenance of lots once owned by tastemakers like Winston Guest, Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan and Thelma Chrysler........

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