Lichtenstein's Blue Nude from 1995, with a pre-sale estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million is the highlight of a collection that Sotheby's expects to raise between $12.3 million and $17.4 million. After his death, control of the fashion house he founded passed to the designer's sister Donatella and his brother Santo, who own 50 percent. Versace's niece Allegra, who turned 18 last year, owns the other half of the company, which is working to turn around a 26.5 million euro 2003 loss. Furniture and decorations from Versace's collection will be sold at another auction in the second half of the year. Sotheby's senior vice-president Elaine Whitmire described Versace's New York home as "a sanctuary of sophistication." Versace's New York base was a townhouse on a classic block near Central Park on the upscale Upper East Side. The designer filled the house with contemporary paintings juxtaposed with neoclassical European furniture as well as Italian glass. Among the major lots in the Versace collection are an untitled 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat with an estimated price of up to $1.8 million and his 1986 work Taxi that Sotheby's said it expected to fetch up to $1.2 million. Among the impressionist and modern work at the May sale are drawings by Henri Matisse and Edgar Degas as well as watercolours by Marc Chagall and Raoul Dufy. February 7, 2005
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