Microsoft co-founder's Paul Allen’s $1bn collection to be sold in largest ever auction
Artwork worth $1bn belonging to the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen will be sold at the largest art auction in history.
Proceeds of the November sale would be given to charity as Paul Allen wished, said Christie's auction house.
The collection of 150 artworks includes masterpieces by Botticelli, Renoir, David Hockney and Roy Lichtenstein spanning 500 years.
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The auction will include La Montagne Sainte-Victoire by French painter Paul Cezanne, valued at more than $100m (£85m).
Christie's CEO Guillaume Cerutti said the auction would be like no other, reports BBC.
"The inspirational figure of Paul Allen, the extraordinary quality and diversity of works, and the dedication of all proceeds to philanthropy, create a unique combination that will make the sale of the Paul G Allen Collection an event of unprecedented magnitude," he said.
Art was "both analytical and emotional" to Paul Allen, he said.
The collection "reflects the diversity of his interests, with their own mystique and beauty", said Jody Allen, Allen's sister, the executor of the estate.
Paul Allen left Microsoft in 1983 due to health problems and a deteriorating relationship with his co-founder Bill Gates - who stepped down as CEO in 2000.
In 2010 he pledged to leave the majority of his fortune to charity after his death. At the time he was the 37th richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine.
He died in 2018 from complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, after previously being successfully treated for the disease.
