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Guillermo del Toro is auctioning off part of his vast horror and fantasy collection, after premiering his long-awaited Frankenstein at the Venice Film Festival to widespread acclaim.
The Oscar-winning, Mexican-born director has partnered with Heritage Auctions for a three-part sale of items from his sprawling Bleak House archive, a pair of Santa Monica homes stuffed to the brim with thousands of ghoulish props, sketches, comics and curiosities.
The first auction, featuring more than a hundred items, is set to kick off online on 26 September, with further lots due next year.
Del Toro’s decision was spurred by the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles earlier this year. With only hours to spare, he managed to save around 120 of the more than 5,000 items in his collection.
Among the highlights are two original drawings from Bernie Wrightson’s 1983 illustrated edition of “Frankenstein”. One shows the creature hiding near a stream, while the other depicts Victor Frankenstein in pursuit of his creation. They carry starting bids of $200,000 and $100,000 respectively. Del Toro described Wrightson’s work as a masterpiece and admitted that parting with the illustrations was “pretty brutal.”
Another highlight is an original pinup illustration by Mike Mignola for “Hellraiser #2”, drawn in the late 1980s. Del Toro described the piece, which has a starting bid of $40,000, as “exceedingly hard” to acquire and said it was a precursor to Mignola’s creation of Hellboy, the character that he later brought to the screen in 2004.
The auction also features more than a dozen pieces of pre-production art from Pan’s Labyrinth, including an expansive concept sketch of the mill compound by Raúl Monge, one of del Toro’s favourites.
Fans of Hellboy will also find more than 40 pieces of memorabilia from the films, including Ron Perlman’s hero jacket, which has a starting bid of $40,000, and Hellboy’s massive six-round shotgun, “Big Baby,” which begins at $50,000.