(Paris) The actor Gérard Depardieu will put 250 works from his 20th century art collection at Drouot up for sale at the end of September, to “lighten up a bit,” said the head of this sale on Thursday.
The collection includes bronzes by Rodin, an artist he played in the cinema alongside Isabelle Adjani, five works by Calder, a canvas by Hans Hartung… The sale, on September 26 and 27, could bring in 3 to 5 million dollars. euros.
The best known of the French actors still in activity separates from some of the works acquired during his life. At 74, “he had bypasses, motorcycle accidents. He is a character who has been through a lot and needs to lighten up a bit,” said David Nordmann, auctioneer at Ader, during the presentation of this sale.
At home, “there are no paintings hanging on the wall. He lives with. There are strata, piles that are placed against the walls. He moves them as he goes,” he said.
Depardieu has never stopped filming, but was caught up recently by 13 new testimonies of sexist and sexual violence which would have been committed on eleven shoots between 2004 and 2022. He has been indicted since 2021 on suspicion of rape and sexual assaults on actress Charlotte Arnould.
He was dismissed in May for this reason from the promotion of the last film in which he appeared, Umami, and several performances of his singing show around Barbara were disrupted by protesters.
“I hope people will make the difference between the (judicial) timeliness and the quality of this collection,” hopes Mr. Nordmann.
