Estimated between 4 and 5 million euros, the collection includes paintings, sculptures but also drawings from the Italian Renaissance, including a work by Veronese. It will be presented in a travelling exhibition in May and June in New York, Hong Kong, Geneva, London and Paris.
"I bought my first drawing in 1964 exactly, in London. Over the years, I have acquired drawings, paintings and sculptures that have moved me, spoken to me and sometimes even consoled me. These works have accompanied me for many years and have been part of my life," says Alain Delon, 87, in the catalog of the sale.
Among the major pieces summarizing "60 years of passion", an oil on canvas by Raoul Dufy, "The beach of Sainte-Adresse, 1906", estimated between 600,000 and 800,000 euros, and a painting by Eugène Delacroix from 1825, "Arab horse attached to a stake" (400,000 to 600,000 euros), said auctioneer Arnaud Cornette de Saint Cyr in presenting the sale.
"A huge collector with an instinctive and animal eye," the actor "was one of the biggest buyers of drawings from the 60s and 70s, when they were not in vogue," he said.
In 2007, Alain Delon had dispersed modern works, explaining to the newspaper Le Monde "that he prefers to settle it now" because of his "hatred" of posthumous sales.
"As I worked a lot, all my money went into old drawings. There are some who buy cars, who go to whores, I prefer paintings. I bought out of passion, never out of investment," he added at the time.
Alain Delon at the Hotel Drouot in front of a piece of his collection sold at auction in Paris on October 11, 2007 © JEAN AYISSI / AFP/Archives
Seven world records, for artists such as Estève, Manessier or Olivier Debré, were recorded during this sale, with auctions partly multiplied by the popularity of their owner.
In 2016, after having dispersed his cellar of fine wines, his watches and his collector's weapons, Alain Delon also auctioned a collection of Bugatti bronzes that had been a great success.
© 2023 AFP