Gene Hackman’s most cherished personal belongings, including scripts and souvenirs from his decades of movie work, vivid art landscapes he painted, and even some rare film awards, are all going up for auction, RadarOnline.com can share.
And starting bids for many of the prized possessions are just $10.
The Gene Hackman Collection
A collection of Hackman’s scripts and various items from the film ‘Runaway Jury’
Hackman passed away earlier this year at the age of 95.
The award-winning actor had more than 150 movie and television credits to his name, and had amassed a vast collection of memorabilia from many of them.
Now, his estate has organized a nearly month-long online auction through Bonhams called “The Gene Hackman Collection: A Life in Art.”
The collection includes various knick-knacks the legend had acquired over the years, along with some of his original artwork.
And Anna Hicks, Head of US Private & Iconic Collections atBonhams, told Radar it’s open to everyone: “Anyone is allowed to bid,” she said.
“You do have to go online and register to bid at Bonhams.com. It’s a fairly simple process once you click on the option you’re interested in, and then you’re open to bid, and that is an option that runs for 10 days, so you can bid at any time up until that last day.”
Movie Memorabilia
These Hackman hand-painted landscapes have opening bids of $10.
Highlights include three of his Golden Globe Awards—one for Unforgiven, one for The Royal Tenenbaums, and his Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award.
“There’s also scattered movie memorabilia from almost every movie he’s ever been in,” Hicks emphasized. “With photos, stills, call sheets, and various other bits and bobs.”
Then there’s his own artwork, which Hackman took very seriously.
“He was a prolific artist,” Hicks revealed, adding that the collection offered features: “A lot of portraits and select things that he did after he retired from acting.”
Fine Art, Finer Prices
Two Golden Globe Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award are available.
For those with a finer palate, Hicks said there will be a live auction Nov. 19 in New York, featuring “works that (Hackman) collected by quite famous artists, including Milton Avery and two Richard Diebenkorn prints, which are all in the 6-figure range, as well as a few other well-known American artists.
The highlight of the live auction is “Figure on the Jetty” by American modernist Avery, which is expected to sell for anywhere from $500,000 to $700,000.
According to an auction house description: “This painting, depicting a lone figure on a jetty gazing out to sea, is likely inspired from (Avery’s) summers of 1957 through 1960 spent in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and reflects Avery’s mature style, prominently featured throughout his oeuvre.”
After spending decades on display at major galleries and institutions, Hackman acquired it in 1997, and kept it until his death.
Hackman’s Tragic Passing
A colorful collection of Hackman’s Screen Actor’s Guild membership cards.
As Radar has reported, the bodies of Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found in separate rooms of their house in February. Arakawa was discovered in the couple’s bathroom with pills scattered around her, and Hackman was found on the ground in a mudroom near the kitchen.
Arakawa, an accomplished classical pianist, was said to have died from hantavirus, a flu-like illness related to rodents. She was believed to have died at least a week before Hackman, who suffered from Alzheimer’s.
Hackman’s cause of death was said to be a combination of advanced Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, and severe heart disease. His pacemaker’s last recorded activity was on February 18.
At a press conference, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said due to Hackman’s “advanced state of Alzheimer’s” it was “quite possible” the actor was unaware his wife had passed away.
Items from ‘Crimson Tide’ and ‘Superman’
