Christie’s auction house will be selling an estimated one billion dollars worth of art belonging to the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in November, BBC reported. It will be the largest art auction in history and the proceeds will be given to charity as per Paul Allen’s wishes. The collection includes masterpieces by Botticelli, Renoir, David Hockney and Roy Lichtenstein. Allen had co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975 and died in 2018 at the age of 65.
Art was “both analytical and emotional” to Mr Allen, Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti said. Paul Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, who is the executor of the estate, said that the collection “reflects the diversity of his interests, with their own mystique and beauty”.
Paul Allen was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare form of cancer, in 1983 after which he left Microsoft. He was successfully treated and later founded a private company with his sister.
In 2010 he pledged to leave a huge chunk of his fortune to charity after his death. At the time his net worth was $13.5 billion and he was the 37th richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine.
Talking about the auction, BBC reported that it will include 150 pieces of art spanning 500 years. There is also the La Montagne Sainte-Victoire by French painter Paul Cezanne, valued at more than $100 million.
