Auctioned the collection of Pinto Coelho, the first great decorator of Spain

An extraordinary collection of more than 800 lots, from both the house in Madrid and the Palace of Trujillo’s legendary interior designer Duarte Pinto Coelho will be auctioned at Christie’s London on 20 and 21 July.

Madrid- Portuguese by birth, particularly in Cascais, Pinto Coelho spent much of his youth in Paris, where he became friends with figures such as Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Wallis Simpson and Salvador Dali. After moving to Spain in the 50′s, chose Madrid as his new residence, which was devoted to antiques and decor.

Refined and eclectic taste, collecting was his passion and the proof is the two houses, adorned with a large number of furniture, art, porcelains, paintings, silver, carpets and textiles. The total value of the collection is estimated around 1.5 million pounds (1.7 million euros).

The collection contains an incredible variety of artwork and decorative objects. Since ancient Spanish and Italian textiles to Chinese porcelain decorated in blue and white, and a large number of European sculptures and paintings of the twentieth century. Among the most important pieces of his collection can be noted the combination of Chinese paintings on glass.

The auction will also offer furniture and objects from his home in Trujillo (Cáceres) Chavez-Mendoza Palace, the seventeenth century. What had once been the palace, monastery and hospital, Duarte Pinto Coelho decorated and transformed in 1971 into a house that felt as good retirement. This place was where he enjoyed getting his friends and organizing more informal meetings. Among the most important pieces found in Trujillo include a series of nineteenth century Italian gouaches representing views of Naples and the Vesuvius eruption.

The motto of Duarte Pinto Coelho – “a home should, in the end, seems as if the decorator had never set foot” – is quite a demonstration of his wit, philosophy and style. In fact, there was only one of the first and best interior decorators in Spain, but he himself became a leading figure in the Spanish high society. The party was doing in his apartment in the Pinohermoso Palace of Madrid  still remembered. From Truman Capote to Maria Callas, to Amalia Rodrigues and Henry Kissinger, any celebrity to visit Spain was their guest.

Pinto Coelho died in July last year at age 87 at his home in Trujillo. Eight years earlier, in 2002, he received the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts in recognition of his dedication to collecting, preserving and displaying various art collections, such as parts of Malaga in the nineteenth century terracotta exposed in 2003 National Museum of Decorative Arts. A few years earlier, in 1989, received the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit.

Related posts:

1. San Diego Museum of Art Presents Great Spanish Masters from the Pérez Simón Collection
2. Two Evocative Paintings of Welsh Landscapes to be Auctioned at Bonhams
3. Important American Paintings, Drawings & Sculpture to Be Auctioned at Sotheby’s New York
4. Exceptional Works of South Asian Art to Be Auctioned at Sotheby’s
5. Majestic Sculpture on View in New York City to be Auctioned at Naples Winter Wine Festival