Art collection of actor Alain Delon was auctioned for more than 8 million euros

The Movie Legend’s Art Collection Alain Delonmade up of 80 works, was auctioned on Thursday in Paris for more than eight million euros, double the estimate, according to the Bonhams-Cornette de Saint-Cyr house.

Before the sale, the works had been on display since April in New York, Geneva, Brussels and Hong Kong.

In two rooms packed with the public, among international buyers, onlookers and admirers of the actor, all the lots experienced fierce competition.

The highlight of the auction was “The Bay of Sainte-Adresse”, a painting by Raoul Dufy with an estimated value of between 600,000 and 800,000 euros and which finally sold for 1,016,400 euros.

A work by Eugène Delacroix that had been off the market for more than 40 years fetched 775,100 euros, more than double the lowest estimate.

“No wonder (these works) have attracted such exciting auctions. A great collector, with an intuitive eye, the actor was notably one of the biggest buyers of drawings from the 1960s and 1970s, when they weren’t in style.”explained the commissioner in charge of the sale, Arnaud Cornette de Saint Cyr.

The French movie star had assembled an ensemble considered exceptional.

“I bought my first drawing in 1964, in London. Over the years, I have acquired works that have moved, spoken, and even comforted me at times. They have been part of my life…”, said Alain Delon, 87, in the catalogue. The actor was not present at the auction.

In 2007, Alain Delon sold his modern works, explaining to the newspaper Le Monde “that he hated posthumous sales.”

In 2016, after selling his ‘grands crus’, his watches and his collectible weapons, Alain Delon also auctioned off a first series of Bugatti bronzes with equal success.

With information from AFP