Christie's To Auction Leona Helmsley Lots

Christie's in New York will auction a collection of paintings, sculpture, furniture, and other property from the estate of real estate tycoon Leona Helmsley in multiple sales of around 500 lots throughout the upcoming year, the auction house announced yesterday.

Helmsley's property, retrieved from her New York, Greenwich, Conn., and Sarasota, Fla., residences, will be included in 15 sales, the first of which, Important American Silver, will take place January 17.

Helmsley's property will also be included in Russian Works of Art, Interiors, and 20th Century Chinese Art, which will take place at Christie's in Hong Kong.

Helmsley, who died in August 2007, and her husband, Harry Helmsley, who died in 1997, maintained a real estate portfolio that included some of New York's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, One Penn Plaza, and the Helmsley Palace Hotel.

Helmsley's estate is estimated at more than $4 billion, the bulk of which was designated in her will to go to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Proceeds from the Christie's sales will also benefit the trust.