The honor goes to auction house Christie’s, which is allowed to put the collection up for sale. In total, it concerns more than 150 ‘masterpieces’ with five hundred years of art history. The catchy headlineVisionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection” should convince buyers to spend more than a billion euros in total. “Proceeds will go to various charities, in accordance with Mr. Allen’s wishes,” the auction house said.
Cancer
Allen passed away in 2018 from cancer. At that time, his wealth was estimated at around twenty billion euros. He co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with Bill Gates. The two were childhood friends. After he left the company in 1983, he stayed on as a member of the Microsoft board. He emerged as a fanatic philanthropist and art collector. In total, he donated at least two billion euros to charities in the field of health, culture and the environment. He also founded museums.
His love for art dates back to childhood, and was strengthened when he visited the Tate Gallery in London. “You want to collect these works because you love the pieces. And you know the collection will last longer than you,” Allen said in 2006. “You’re just a temporary keeper of them.”
