This October, Dreweatts has the great honour of holding the auction Robert Kime: The Personal Collection. The live online auction of this iconic collection will be a landmark in the history of English taste and a celebration of one of the most respected and loved decorators of his generation. The sale presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to obtain works from Robert’s very own personal collection, which he meticulously formed over his lifetime, through his travels around the UK, Europe, the Middle East and beyond, encapsulating many contrasting cultural traditions and mediums.

It is a measure of the esteem in which Robert Kime was held, that when he passed away last year, tributes appeared across publications around the world. Each spoke with admiration of Robert’s personality, enthusiasm and expertise, acknowledging his profound influence and celebrating his lifetime’s work. More personal tributes came from fellow designers, clients and friends conveying both the affection with which Robert was held and the inspiration he gave. 

What made a Robert Kime interior so distinctive and desirable was that it did not appear to be professionally decorated. The rooms he created looked assembled over time, generating feelings of timelessness, comfort and continuity. Former first lady, Nancy Reagan summed it up when she said, on seeing the New York flat that Robert had designed for Andrew Lloyd Webber: “Its madly clever. Nothing matches.” The seemingly effortless layering of fabrics and furniture, paintings and prints was the result of years of immersion in the world of the arts – exploring, travelling, learning and enquiring – allied with an innate ability to understand the space with which he was working.

In Robert Kime’s book, a profile of twelve of his projects, Alastair Langlands wrote: “To Robert, it is essential that a house or room should convey a sense of safety and a feeling of permanence… The rooms he designs are places of calm, retreats from the cares of office life, sanctuaries from the busy world, and they are always supremely comfortable. It is also of importance to him that they resonate with the past… by being associated with the past and the present, his rooms become timeless.” 

Robert himself struggled to define it: “What I have been trying to put into words….is that I think I am trying to create an atmosphere.” He went on to suggest that this need began in his childhood, when he found a sanctuary in a garden shed, surrounded by the furniture and artefacts stored there: “There was this world that I could change to my own advantage and pleasure, and that’s when I started what is called interior decorating now.” ...

Read the full article here.


Auction:
The three-day auction will take place at Dreweatts Donnington Priory salerooms on Wednesday 4, Thursday 5 & Friday 6 October 2023. Bidding is available online, in person, by telephone or you can leave commission (absentee) bids.  

On View:
London (highlights): Dreweatts, 16-17 Pall Mall, St James's, London SW1Y 5LU
Friday 8 - Thursday 14 September 2023

Newbury (full sale): Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE
Saturday 30 September - Tuesday 3 October 2023     

Dreweatts Virtual Tours:
Explore the rooms of Robert's London home at Warwick Square, and his French property, La Gonette, a 17th/18th century manor house in the Genoese style, known as 'The Sleeping Princess' with the Dreweatts Virtual Tours.  Find out more…!

Further information:
For details on registration, viewing, bidding, payment and shipping, please see the Auction Information Page here. 

General enquiries: + 44 (0) 1635 553 553 | housesales@dreweatts.com
Press enquiries: smaylor@dreweatts.com 

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