NEED TO KNOW
- Gene Hackman’s art collection, as well as some of his movie memorabilia, will be auctioned off this November
- The auction also includes three of his Golden Globes
- Hackman died in February at age 95
Bonhams Auctions is auctioning off items from the late actor Gene Hackman this November, including some of the movie scripts and other memorabilia from his historic career.
Bonhams announced on Oct. 16 that, working with the Estate of Gene Hackman, they will be running three auctions of items from Hackman’s estate. The first auction, The Gene Hackman Collection: A Life in Art, will be held on Nov. 19 in New York and focus on the art collection that Hackman, who died in February at 95, accumulated throughout his life.
Andrew Huber, Bonhams Head of 20th & 21st Century Art, said in a statement, “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.”
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According to the auction house, Hackman’s love of art “intensified” after he retired from acting following his last film, Welcome to Mooseport, in 2004.
Bonhams will then hold two online sales beginning on Nov. 8 and Nov. 25, that will feature Hackman’s personal artworks, annotated books from his library, scripts and posters, among other memorabilia from his movie career.
The auction will also include three of his Golden Globes. Two of the Globes are for his performances in 1993’s Unforgiven and 2002’s The Royal Tenenbaums. The third is his Cecil B. De Mille Lifetime Achievement award, which he received in 2003. Hackman also won a Golden Globe for 1972’s The French Connection.
“The Gene Hackman Collection offers a rare window into the artistic mind of a profoundly disciplined and instinctive artist,” Bonhams wrote in their announcement on Instagram. In addition to his film and visual art work, Hackman was also a novelist.
Hackman and his wife, Betsy, both died in February in their Santa Fe, N.M., home. The couple wed in 1991.
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On March 2, Morgan Freeman remembered Hackman at the Oscars. “I had the pleasure of working alongside Gene on two films, Unforgiven and Under Suspicion, and like everyone who ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer and a man whose gifts elevated everyone’s work,” Freeman said in part. “He received two Oscars, but more importantly, he won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.” Hackman won Oscars for The French Connection and Unforgiven.
“Gene always said, ‘I don’t think about legacy. I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work,’ ” Freeman added. “So I think I speak for us all when I say, Gene, you’ll be remembered for that and for so much more.”
Clint Eastwood, 94, told PEOPLE after Hackman’s death, “There was no finer actor than Gene. Intense and instinctive. Never a false note. He was also a dear friend whom I will miss very much.” Eastwood also starred in Unforgiven with Freeman and Hackman.
