A family of distinguished bankers and entrepreneurs since the 17th century, the Sterns are also renowned collectors, patrons and philanthropists. For generations, they have collected art at the very highest level, served on the boards of cultural, educational and scientific institutions across Europe, and donated important works to prestigious museums, including the Louvre.
‘The Stern family has now chosen to write a new chapter in its history by offering at auction the works assembled by three generations of passionate collectors before them,’ writes the French journalist Pierre Assouline in the introduction to the sale catalogue.
Assembled over the course of more than a century, the collection offered for sale reflects the connoisseurship and eclectic interests of Edgard Salomon Stern (1854-1937), head of the French branch of the family, his daughter-in-law Alice Stern (1906-2008), and their descendants.
On 11 December 2025, Christie’s in Paris will present Les Stern: une famille de collectionneurs, alongside an online sale until 12 December, offering more than 350 lots ranging from Old Master paintings to furniture, sculpture and works of decorative art, including enamels, silver, bronzes and glass. The sales include works by some of the most celebrated European artists and makers of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, from Boucher, Fragonard, Robert and Tissot to the ébéniste Roger Vandercruse called Lacroix and glass designer Emile Gallé. Many pieces also boast prestigious provenances. There are works once owned by the renowned Parisian couturier Jacques Doucet, Sir Richard Wallace, David David-Weill, the Dukes of Hamilton in Scotland and the Comte d’Artois.
Additionally, paintings by Jan van Goyen and Jacob van Ruisdael will be offered in the Old Masters Evening Sale in London on 2 December.