Oscar-winning movie director Guillermo del Toro has sold the first part of his prized collection of art, props, and rare objects tied to his fascination with the macabre. The trove, known as “Bleak House,” has been divided into three parts and was amassed over several decades. It was sold through Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, last week and totaled $1.65 million.
Swiss artist H.R. Giger’s painting for the unrealized project “The Tourist” stole the show, fetching $325,000 (his auction record). Among the other highlights was one of Mike Mignola’s original illustrations for the fourth edition of the “Hellboy: Seed of Destruction” comic, which sold for over $50,000. A cover for Meat Loaf’s 1981 “Dead Ringer” album by comic art legend Bernie Wrightson fetched $167,000. The artist’s original plate for Marvel’s adaption of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley then made $250,000.
Props from Del Toro’s movies were also sought after. A clay model of the Amphibian Man from his “The Shape of Water” was bought for $6,250, while two “drivesuits” from “Pacific Rome each made $75,000. The trench coat worn by Ron Pearlman in the “Hellboy” movie went for $50,000.
“I feel like a good guardian—knowing fully that these, and future, artifacts have now found loving hands,” the movie director said in a statement after the sale.
Heritage Auction’s Joe Maddalena said in a statement: “These were not just props or pieces of memorabilia. They are the creative DNA of one of cinema’s most visionary storytellers. The response from bidders shows just how deeply Guillermo’s imagination resonates around the world.”
The second and third parts of Del Toro’s collection will be sold in the spring and fall of next year.
