France - Yves St Laurent auction

Chairs and carpets and knick-knacks... oh my!

Article published on the 2009-11-17 Latest update 2009-11-17 14:05 TU

The first Yves St Laurent auction in Paris in February
(Photo:AFP/ P. Verdy)

More than 1,200 bits and bobs from the estate of renowned French couturier Yves St Laurent are destined for the auction block Tuesday, kicking off a four-day sale all proceeds going to fight Aids, according to St Laurent's lover, Pierre Berge.

The auction is being held in a theatre just off the Champs Elysées in Paris. Most of the items are from St Laurent and Berge's vacation home on the Normandy coast of France that they bought in the early 1980s.

Most of the pieces up for bidding are chairs, carpets, vases and sofas. One piece is a 19^th century Dutch brass chandelier worth 30,000 euros.

The trend-setting couple decorated their Normandy digs based on author Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

Some of the larger pieces include St Laurent’s Mercedes Benz car, his Hermes luggage, and the auction will close with a Fernand Léger gouache painting estimated between 60,000 and 70,000 euros.

The sale is smaller than the February extravaganza of St Laurent’s property, which was called the biggest private art sale in history.