2 years ago Juan de Beistegui died, ending a long tradition of antique and art collectors which dated back three generations in the Beistegui family.
Although Juan de Beistegui has had offspring, his children have already declared that they have not inherited their predecessors' taste for collecting and will perform a antique auction with more than 160 lots that can reach the figure of 8 million euros or even exceed it, since there are objects of great value.
The first of the family to begin collecting antiques was Carlos de Beistegui, uncle grandfather of Juan de Beistegui, when in 1902 he buys some gold coins. This was only the beginning, since Carlos, a frustrated vocation painter, dedicated himself to buying works of art from very important authors, supported mainly by his wealthy father, a businessman of Spanish origin who prospered with his mining businesses in Mexico.
The collection of works of art gathered by Carlos de Beistegui it became so important that in 1942 he donated his paintings to the Louvre museum and today they are still exposed in a room that bears his name.
Although Carlos acquired a lot of popularity, the surname Beistegui came to have a great worldwide recognition thanks to his nephew Charles de Beistegui. Charles continues with his uncle's customs and not only becomes a great collector of antiques and art, but it is related to very influential people of the time. According to what they say, he asked Salvador Dalí to decorate the garden terrace of his house personally.
In 1951 it is news around the world to organize a mask dance in his palace in Venice (Palazzo de Labia), which they attend among others: Orson Welles, Barbara Hutton, Aga Khan III, the Duchess of Devonshire ... The press called this event "the dance of the century".
Charles dies in 1970 in Paris, and having no children leaves his belongings to his brother, who organizes a large auction with more than 2000 lots of the Beistegui collection and collects a total of 26 million dollars. Exceeding the figures of most antique auctions that had been held in France until that time.
Finally Juan de Beistegui, nephew of Charles, who as we said at the beginning of the article died in 2017. He inherited the castle 'Château de Groussay' and a large collection that is the one that is pending auction at the moment. How much will you finally collect?
Figaro auctions, online antique auction house with a large catalog available for antique collectors. If you are interested, take a look at the lots available on our website.
