Biggest art auction ever of Microsofts’s Paul Allen to be sold for $1B

• 150 pieces of art from 500 years will be sold during the auction.
• The collection contains works by Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, Renoir, and Botticelli.
• Paul Cezanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire is expected to fetch $100 million (£85 million).

At the greatest art auction in history, works of art owned by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen are expected to fetch $1 billion (£847 million).

As requested by Mr. Allen, the earnings from the November sale, according to Christie’s auction house, will be donated to charity.

The collection contains works by Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, Renoir, and Botticelli.

In 1975, Mr. Allen and his childhood friend Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft. Mr. Allen passed away in 2018 at the age of 65.

150 pieces of art from 500 years will be sold during the auction.

Among the works will include Paul Cezanne’s La Montagne Sainte-Victoire, a painting with an estimated value of over $100 million (£85 million).

Guillaume Cerutti, CEO of Christie’s, predicted that the auction would be unique.

He declared that the sale of the Paul G. Allen Collection would be a historic occasion because of “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.”

According to Mr. Allen, art is “both analytical and emotional.”

According to Jody Allen, the estate’s executor and Mr. Allen’s sister, the collection “reflects the diversity of his interests, with their own mystique and beauty.”

After receiving a diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare form of cancer, Mr. Allen quit his position at Microsoft in 1983.

His bond with co-founder Bill Gates had also soured, but they would subsequently mend their ways. Till 2000, he was a member of the board of the business.

After receiving effective treatment for his cancer, Mr. Allen created Vulcan Inc. with his sister Jody to handle his business and charities. He continued to own shares of Microsoft as part of his multi-billion dollar investment portfolio.

He promised in 2010 to donate the vast bulk of his assets to charitable causes after his passing. According to Forbes magazine, he had an estimated $13.5 billion (£8.8 billion) at the time, ranking him as the 37th richest man in the world.

In 2009, he received treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but it came back, and in 2018, he passed away as a result of the disease’s complications.

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