A collection of artworks owned and created by the late American actor Gene Hackman is to be sold by Bonhams in a series of auctions held in November.
The main one, held in New York on 19 November, is titled The Gene Hackman Collection: A Life in Art.
The sale presents a deeply personal survey of Modern and American art assembled by the two-time Academy Award winner. The collection includes 13 works by leading artists such as Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), Milton Avery (1885-1965), and Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993).
Over a career spanning more than five decades, Hackman was acclaimed as one of the greatest screen actors of his generation, winning two Oscars, four Golden Globes. He passed away at his home near Santa Fe, New Mexico, in February this year, aged 95.
He built an art collection over many years, and following his retirement from acting, Hackman’s lifelong interest in art deepened, and he became an accomplished illustrator and sculptor.
The online auctions will include Hackman’s own artworks, annotated books from his library, scripts, posters, and film memorabilia, including three Golden Globe awards – two for Unforgiven (1993) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2002), and the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award he received in 2003 – each estimated at $3,000-5,000 (£2,450-4,100).
Andrew Huber, Bonhams’ Head of 20th & 21st Century Art, US, said: “These are prestigious works with impeccable provenance, further enriched by their association with one of the greatest actors of our time. Hackman was not only a collector but an artist himself, and his approach to collecting mirrors the care, aesthetic sensibility, and discipline evident in his own artistic practice. This is a collection shaped with extraordinary thoughtfulness and passion.”