Rochas collection fetches 15.7 mn euros at Paris auction

The private collection of French fashion icon Helene Rochas featuring works by Kandinsky, Balthus and Picasso fetched 15.7 million euros ($20 million) at a Paris auction, Christie's said on Friday.

The total was double the estimate for the collection, which included art works from the modern and post-war eras, Art Deco pieces such as furniture and objets d'art, as well as Old Masters and 19th century paintings and drawings.

Ben Nicholson's 1933 abstract painting "Violin and guitar" sold for 3.3 million euros, setting a record for a work by the British painter.

"Braunes Schweigen," a 1925 oil painting by Kandinsky, fetched 2.1 million euros, while a large Balthus painting, "Japanese woman with red table" featuring the painter's second wife Setsuko Ideta, was snapped up for 2.3 million euros.

The other works were a large 1954 terracotta vase by Picasso and portraits of Rochas by US pop artist Andy Warhol which she commissioned in 1974 when she was living in New York.

Helene Rochas married the celebrated Parisian couturier Marcel Rochas at the age of 18 and headed the fashion house after his death in 1955.

Rochas built the label into a world-renowned fragrance brand and sold it in 1971. She died last year at the age of 84.