It is one investment that did not go wrong. While Richard Fuld, the boss of Lehman Brothers, lost a fortune as his bank collapsed, his wife amassed a fine collection of modern art. She is now set to make up to £11m from it.

Kathy Fuld is selling a collection of abstract expressionist drawings that have spiralled in value since she started buying them 15 years ago.

Christie’s announced the sale of the 16 postwar works, which form part of a larger collection owned by the Fulds, four days after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt last month.

Richard Fuld, the firm’s chief executive, who is nicknamed “the Gorilla” because of his tough style, ended up selling for just £280,000 share options that had been worth £139m only 18 months ago.

Art experts have praised his wife’s well-trained eye for the undervalued masterpieces. Among the items that will go under the hammer in New York next month are a drawing by Barnett Newman that Kathy Fuld bought in 1999 for about £170,000. It is now valued at £1.1m. Another drawing, by Willem de Kooning, which sold at auction in 2001 for £1.1m, has doubled in value. There are also works by Arshile Gorky and Agnes Martin.

“They are very rare pieces,” said Brett Gorvy, deputy chairman of Christie’s America. “When the collector bought them, they were pioneers in the field so they were able to buy the pieces very well. This is an area of the market which is now highly sought after. It’s a connoisseur’s collection and a connoisseur’s eye.”

The estimated value of the Fuld fire sale will add insult to injury for the 750 Lehman Brothers staff in London laid off last month.

It is still small beer for Richard Fuld. He earned £19.4m from running the failing bank in 2007 and pocketed about £282m through share options in his 14-year reign.

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