Sale Overview
Christie’s Snowdon: A Life in Art and Objects online auction celebrates the vision and life of Antony Armstrong-Jones 1st Earl of Snowdon (1930-2017). The photographer is one of the most influential creative figures of the twentieth-century and the sale covers works from his varied and eccentric collection. Following on from his uncle, the legendary stage-designer Oliver Messel, Lord Snowdon befriended many artists, many of whom he photographed including Philip Sutton, Sidney Nolan and Derek Hill, all of whom have paintings represented in the sale. His term as Provost of the Royal College of Art was also hugely influential, and the sale includes Snowdon photographs of Gilbert and George, David Hockney and Henry Moore. Despite his life in the public eye, Lord Snowdon was a down-to-earth figure who has left a staggering legacy on design and photography, including the Snowdon Aviary at London Zoo, his Investiture Chairs and his pioneering work for the disabled in the United Kingdom, his memory immortalized by the Snowdon Trust, which he founded in 1981. With eclectic taste and an insatiable collector’s mind, inherited from his Messel forebears - the majority of lots are offered for sale for the first time in their history and tell the unique story of the influences of this fascinating man and his love of art and objects.