People News

Elizabeth Taylor collection sells for 120m

Feb 9, 2012, 15:32 GMT

Dame Elizabeth Taylor

A collection of Dame Elizabeth Taylor's fashion, artwork and jewellery has sold for nearly £120 million at auction.

More than 1,800 lots went under the hammer at sales in New York and London with a Vincent Van Gogh painting, 'Vue de l'asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy' - which had been hanging in the late actress' home until her death in March 2011 - fetching over £10.1 million

Elizabeth's art collection beat its pre-sale valuation of £9 million to sell for nearly £14 million in the auction, which culminated in a sale of artwork at Christie's auction house in London last night (08.02.12).

Marc Porter, chairman of Christie's Americas, said: 'It has been an incredible honour for Christie's to present this storied collection to the global collecting community.

'From our initial announcement of the collection sales last summer in New York, to the worldwide tour of the collection highlights last fall, to the last rap of the auctioneer's gavel today in London, the global outpouring of affection and admiration for Elizabeth Taylor from fans and collectors alike has been amazing for us to witness.

'We are grateful to the trustees of her estate for entrusting Christie's with this one-of-a-kind collection, which will go down in history as one of the most successful private collection sales ever presented at auction.'

A total of 38 pieces of art belonging to the actress went under the hammer in London earlier this week, with other highlights including Dutch artist Kees van Dongen's 'Promenade a Cheval' - which sold for more than £600,000 - which was given to Elizabeth as a present from her art dealer father Francis Taylor.

Last December, Elizabeth's collection of jewellery, fashion, decorative arts and memorabilia were sold at Christie's in New York, including paintings by Van Gogh, Edgar Degas and Claude Pissarro that fetched a combined total of over £13.7 million.