MOSCOW, June 23A collection of paintings and sculptures belonging to the 87-year-old French actor Alain Delon was sold for more than eight million euros, according to Agence France-Presse. The sum twice exceeded the preliminary estimate of the lots.
The auction was held by the auction house Bonhams-Cornette de Saint Cyr in Paris. Before them, art objects were exhibited in New York, Geneva, Brussels and Hong Kong.
Raoul Dufy's painting «The Beach at Sainte-Adresse» (La plage de Sainte-Adresse, 1906) was bought for more than a million euros with a pre-sale estimate of 600 — 800 thousand euros. «Arab horse tied to a fence» (Cheval arabe attaché à un piquet, 1825) by Eugene Delacroix was sold for 775 thousand euros, the canvas's estimate is 400 — 600 thousand euros.
«It is not surprising that the works caused such gambling. Delon is a wonderful collector with a good flair, the actor was one of the largest buyers of drawings of the 60s and 70s, when they were not yet popular,» said auctioneer Arnaud Cornette de Saint- Sir.
Thus, Delon has collected a unique collection of works of art.
In 2007, Alain Delon had already sold several contemporary works from his collection, telling the Monde newspaper that he «hates posthumous sales.» In 2016, the actor got rid of his collection of premium wines, watches, weapons and bronze sculptures by Rembrandt Bugatti. The auctions were a success.
Earlier it was reported that Michael Jackson's hat was put up for auction. In it, the King of Pop performed for the first time the «moonwalk», the dance step that has become his signature move on stage.