Bonhams will auction works from the collection of late actor Gene Hackman, who died in February, across one live and two online sales this November. The sale includes fine art by Milton Avery, Auguste Rodin, and Richard Diebenkorn, as well as Hackman's own paintings, his Golden Globe awards, annotated scripts, and cinematic memorabilia. The live sale, titled “Gene Hackman: A Life in Art, Part I,” takes place November 19 in New York, with the highest-estimated lot being Avery's 1957 painting *Figure on the Jetty* valued at $500,000–$700,000.
The sale matters because it reveals for the first time the private art collection of Hackman, a major arts patron and painter who served on the board of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. It offers a rare glimpse into the intersection of Hollywood celebrity and the art world, while also providing a market test for celebrity-owned art and memorabilia during the marquee fall auction season.