Guillermo del Toro isn’t just an Oscar-winning filmmaker—he’s a diehard fan of all things horror, especially monsters. He famously has an entire dwelling, dubbed Bleak House, to contain his wonderfully grim collection of art, artifacts, props, and other covetable items, but even someone with del Toro’s generous resources understands the importance of downsizing from time to time. An upcoming auction will serve to give some of his treasures new homes.
In a Heritage Auctions press release (with an accompanying video interview), del Toro explained why he’s trimming a small corner of his Bleak House inventory. “I have collected for decades,” he said. “I believe that collecting is not owning. Collecting is protecting, a sacred duty, being a keeper of a flame, an acolyte.”
But the recent Los Angeles wildfires made him expand his thinking on that front. “This predicament has made me aware of the impossible size of the collection and the responsibility to share this meticulously curated treasure trove with others who might accept the vow to save these pieces of culture and beauty for the generations that follow.”
We’d love to “accept the vow,” but as you might expect from such a high-caliber horror nerd, the stuff’s not exactly budget-friendly. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t drool over pictures and imagine the possibilities.
Here are 10 items from the del Toro auction that we’re gazing at with especially longing eyes; fans of the director and all things spooky should head to the Heritage Auctions site to learn more, including how to bid, and see the full inventory. The auction kicks off September 26.
Here’s a description of each item:
Top row:
Bernie Wrightson Frankenstein Chapter 12 Published Illustration Plate Original Art from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Novel Adaptation (Marvel, 1977-1983); starting bid $200,000.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Universal, 2008), Ron Perlman “Hellboy” Screen Used Hero “Big Baby” Shotgun with (6) Shells; starting bid $50,000.
Pacific Rim (Warner Bros., 2013), Screen Used Hero Gipsy Danger Jaeger Escape Pod; starting bid $10,000.
Second row:
The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight, 2017), Full-body Conceptual Clay Maquette for Amphibian Man; starting bid $3,000.
Mike Mignola – Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #4 Splash Page 10 Original Art (Dark Horse, 1994); starting bid $26,000.
Bernie Wrightson – Meat Loaf “Dead Ringer” Final Album Cover Painting Original Art (Epic, 1981); starting bid $80,000.
Third row:
Cronos (Grupo del Toro, 1992), Guillermo del Toro Original Early Concept Sketch of Vampire; starting bid $4,000.
Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun (Katherine Tegen Books, 2019), Original Illustration Art by Allen Williams; starting bid $3,000.
H.R. Giger – “The Tourist” Painting Original Art (ca. 1980); starting bid $150,000.
Fourth row:
Jean-Girard “Moebius” – The Incal #4 Story Page 9 Original Art (Humanoids, 1985); starting bid $30,000.
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