Philippe Niarchos

Philippe Niarchos (or Philippos Niarchos) is a Greek shipping heir, best known as a son and heir of the Greek shipowner Stavros Niarchos and as an art collector. He is a member of the Niarchos family, founded by his father the late Stavros Niarchos.

Niarchos was educated at Atlantic College and the London School of Economics.

Niarchos as art collector

Niarchos is an avid art collector. He was the anonymous buyer of Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1982 Self-Portrait, which he paid $3.3 million at Christie's November 12 contemporary auction. The astonishing price is about five-and-a-half times what any Basquiat painting has previously brought at a public sale.

Philippe owns his late father's art collection. Among its trophies are Pablo Picasso's self-portrait "Yo, Picasso", which Niarchos pere bought in 1989 for $47,850,000, and Vincent van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear", probably worth around $90 million. It also includes Andy Warhol's Shot "Red Marilyn", which he bought in 1994 at Christie's New York for $3.63 million. Andy Warhol's skull portraits are from Philippe's CAT scan. Warhol completed these works in 1985, using silkscreens made from CAT-scan films of the skull of Philip Niarchos, who commissioned the artist to paint his portrait.

Philippe is mentioned throughout Andy Warhol's Diaries. Andy shares details of Philippe's relationship with socialite, Barbara Allen and their dysfunctional relationship.

Family

He is the eldest son of Stavros Niarchos by his third wife Eugenia Livanos (d. 1970), daughter of shipowner Stavros Livanos, [ [http://www.nndb.com/people/269/000133867/ Stavros Niarchos] entry.] and has been thrice married.

He married thirdly 1984 (divorced) Victoria Christina Guinness (b. 30 January 1960), daughter of Patrick Benjamin Guinness (of the non-aristocratic younger branch of that well-known family and granddaughter of the socialite Gloria Guinness. Her half-uncle was the Aga Khan IV. They have had two sons and two daughters.
# Stavros Niarchos III (b. 1985).
# Eugenie Niarchos (b. 1986), also listed as Evgueni Niarchos. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~byzantium/RoyalData4.txt Niarchos genealogy] ]
# Theodorakis (b. 1991)
# Electra (b. 1995)

Niarchos was a first cousin of the late heiress Christina Onassis whose mother Athina Livanos (d. 1974) was a younger sister of his mother and later became his father's last wife.

Notes