Sandy Lerner to auction extensive art and collectible collection

Bonhams will auction the Sandy Lerner Collection this September and October through a series of four auctions, including two live events in New York and Massachusetts and two online sales. The collection, spanning nearly 1,000 lots from Lerner’s Ayrshire Farm estate in Virginia, includes fine art, decorative objects, jewelry, and home furnishings.

A significant portion of the sale focuses on Lerner’s 40-year passion for cat-themed art, which she refers to as “caticons.” This subset of the collection includes works by artists such as Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, Henri Matisse, and Diego Giacometti. Lerner, a co-founder of Cisco Systems and founder of Urban Decay, authored the book “Caticons: 4,000 Years of Art Imitating Cats” in 2017.

Lerner stated that the items were personally chosen and need to be “rehomed” to those who will respect them as icons of human achievement and affection.