LONDON — A
modern art collection, including works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and
Salvador Dali, will be sold next week in London, Sotheby’s said Saturday.
The works were
collected by German-born photographer Gunter Sachs, best known for his playboy
lifestyle and brief marriage to French actress Brigitte Bardot. He committed
suicide at the age of 78 in May 2011.
Sachs had
collected hundreds of art works over his lifetime and was friends with many key
artists of the 20th century, including Warhol, Dali and Georges Mathieu.
Warhol’s
portrait of Bridget Bardot, Sachs’ second wife, is one of the works being
auctioned. A white plaster bust of Bardot by Alain Gourdon also is for sale.
Sotheby’s will
auction the 300 pieces on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it expects them to fetch
more than 20 million pounds ($32 million).
Sachs made his
name as a photographer, documentary filmmaker and art collector. He lived a jet
set lifestyle, spending time with top artists in Paris and New York.
Oliver Barker,
a contemporary art specialist at Sotheby’s, said: “Gunter’s unique contribution
was his sex appeal, his handsome good looks,” and his “the promotion of
American art in Europe in the 1970s.”
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