NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Later this month, you can take home personal artworks, annotated books, a Golden Globe, or even an Academy Award that once belonged to American cinema legend Gene Hackman.
“It’s not so often that those come up for auction. So it’s really nice, especially given that they’re quite iconic films for him, obviously, Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood, and we have a lot of memorabilia surrounding that,” explained Anna Hicks, Head of Special Collection at Bonhams.
This auction series comes just nine months after the actor, his wife, and dog all passed away in their home. Hackman died of Alzheimer’s and heart disease, and Arakawa from hantavirus. This auction is meant to offer and share mementos from his life and work with fans spanning generations.
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The Gene Hackman collection on display at Bonham’s spans the actor’s 50-plus-year career, explained Hicks. Everything from the Broadway stage to the bright lights of cinema, including awards and film memorabilia in films like The French Connection and The Royal Tenenbaums.
The collection offers fans an inside look at the actor’s life on and off the screen. “There’s items from across all different disciplines of the movies he made. It depends. Sometimes he has the script. Sometimes he has the original swag bag. Sometimes he has still photographs,” continued Hicks.
Thirteen modern and American art artworks assembled by the actor, including pieces by Milton Avery, Auguste Rodin, and Richard Diebenkorn, are among the 400 items up for grabs, ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to $700,000.
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“I would say all the way from the most expensive artworks that he collected down to his own things,” said Hicks.
One unique item also up for sale is a bust that Hackman created. His wife, Betsy, served as his muse. “So he took a sculpture class and worked on learning how to understand the human form and made that of his wife. And it comes along with the original plaster cast, which is signed by him and titled Betsy,” Hicks said.
There will be a dedicated live auction on November 19 in New York and two online auctions.
