The late Lauren Bacall, was acclaimed for her beauty and style but the iconic actress was also an art collector. Bonhams, New Yorks has announced that it will be auctioning off The Bacall Collection in March 2015. The collection has an estimated value of $3 million and contains approximately 700 lots.
Bacall’s collection includes eight sculptures by Henry Moore, two of which will be sold in November’s Impressionist and Modern sale at Bonhams, New York. Bacall had deep affection for Moore and visited the artist at his studio in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire. Moore’s bronze Maquette for Mother and Child: Arms (LH697) is expected to fetch between $150,000-$200,000. The larger Working Model for Reclining Figure: Bone Skirt (LH723) is estimated to sell for $600,000 – 800,000.
Bacall was a lifelong collector many of these pieces were part of her life for many years, both in the Los Angeles home where she lived with her first husband, Humphrey Bogart and later in her residence at The Dakota in New York City. Bogart’s wrought-iron and steel-inlaid slate games table is one of the items to be sold in the March 2015 auction.
Bacall’s collection was as well-traveled as she was and she acquired pieces wherever she went. The estate auction will include her collection of African art, an interest she acquired while Humphrey Bogart was filming The African Queen. The collection also features contemporary prints, modern and contemporary art, English and French 18th and 19th Century furniture, English Majolica, tribal works of art, jewelry, couture, and Louis Vuitton and Goyard luggage.
She had a special love of pelicans and her collection includes several pelican prints. She also had several sculptures by Robert Graham, the talented sculptor married to Bacall’s friend Anjelica Houston. The sale also includes prints by Max Ernst, Miro, Mark Chagall, Howard Hodgkin, Jules Cheret, and Alexander Calder as well as select Schlumberger pieces.
Bacall was just 19 years old when she made her screen debut in To Have and Have Not opposite Humphrey Bogart. The couple married in 1945 and remained married until Bogart’s death in 1957. Bacall appeared in over 30 movies was also an accomplished stage actress, receiving great acclaim for her work in Cactus Flower, Applause, and Woman of the Year.
For complete details on the sale visit: www.bonhams.com.
