Next month, the art collection of the late “New Hollywood” actor Gene Hackman will go to auction at Bonhams. Spanning one live auction and two online sales, the works on offer attest to Hackman’s fascination with both cinematic memorabilia and fine art, while also highlighting his own practice as a painter.
On 19 November, 13 works by renowned artists including Milton Avery, Auguste Rodin and Richard Diebenkorn will be offered during a live auction in New York City. Two online auctions—the first taking place from from 8 November to 21 November, the second taking place from 25 November to 4 December—will feature Hackman's own paintings, books, scripts and posters. Also on offer will be three Golden Globes trophies, including for his roles in Unforgiven (1993) and The Royal Tenenbaums (2002).
Richard Diebenkorn, Green, 1986, est $300,000-$500,000 Courtesy Bonhams
Hackman, in addition to being a practising painter, was a local arts patron in the Santa Fe, New Mexico community where he lived until his death. He served as a board member of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, even narrating a documentary about the artist.
His art collection reflects a serious, active curiosity about the Modern American canon. The live auction will include Diebenkorn’s 1986 etching Green (est $300,000-$500,000), alongside an affecting 1994 Fritz Scholder acrylic of an Indigenous dancer (est $20,000-$30,000). The priciest offering is Hackman’s Milton Avery masterpiece, Figure on the Jetty (1957), which is projected to bring in as much as $700,000. The lots being offered online are more eclectic and accessible in price. Hackman’s own Still Life with Japanese Vase, Rose and Fruit is expected to fetch a modest $1,000 to $1,500.
Milton Avery, Figure on the Jetty, 1957, est $500,000-$700,000 Courtesy Bonhams
“Together, these sales offer an intimate portrait of Hackman’s private world and a rare opportunity for collectors to engage with his creative life,” Anna Hicks, Bonhams’s head of private and iconic collections, said in a statement. “Whether through the art, scripts or personal objects, what emerges is more than a collection—it is a life lived with purpose, curiosity and uncompromising vision.”
Considered one of the greatest actors of his generation, Hackman redefined the image of a leading everyman in the late 1960s and early 70s, earning his first of two Academy Awards for his role in gritty crime drama The French Connection (1971). A prolific and versatile actor, he appeared on Broadway, cut his teeth in off-kilter comedies and voiced animated characters for DreamWorks. He is best known for his hard-boiled, brooding portrayals of men on the edge in neo-noir classics like The Conversation (1974), Mississippi Burning (1988) and Unforgiven.
Works on view in Gene Hackman's studio in Santa Fe Courtesy Bonhams
A private and creative person, Hackman retired from acting in the mid-2000s, dedicating his time to writing thriller novels and renovating houses, two of which were featured in Architectural Digest.
Hackman died, aged 95, in February of this year. The circumstances of his death were revealed to be particularly grim; his wife and caretaker, Betsy Arakawa, died a week before him from hantavirus, a rare disease. Hackman, who had been battling Alzheimer’s, died from heart disease complications a week later. Autopsies revealed that the couple had been dead for some time before they were discovered.
