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Christie's to Auction Microsoft Co-founder Allen's $1bn-plus Art Collection

The art collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion Steve DYKES GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
The art collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion Steve DYKES GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Christie's to Auction Microsoft Co-founder Allen's $1bn-plus Art Collection

The art collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion Steve DYKES GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
The art collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion Steve DYKES GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Christie's announced plans on Thursday to auction the art collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, which it estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.

The November sale of more than 150 pieces spanning 500 years of art will be "the largest and most exceptional art auction in history," Christie's said in a statement.

The works will include "La montagne Sainte-Victoire" by French painter Paul Cezanne, valued at more than $100 million, the auction house said.

It is holding the auction with the late billionaire's estate. Christie's said all proceeds will go to charitable causes, as per the wishes of Allen, who was an avid art collector, innovator and philanthropist.

Allen, who died in 2018 at the age of 65, co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975. Together, they came up with the PC operating system that made a fortune for the US technology giant.

Allen left the company in 1983, due to health problems and a deteriorating relationship with Gates, who remained in charge of Microsoft until 2000.

The auction record for a private collection was set this spring by the US couple Harry and Linda Macklowe, with $922 million fetched in auctions conducted by Sotheby's.

Other than the work by Cezanne, the Allen collection features a work entitled "Small False Start" by American painter Jasper Johns, valued at more than $50 million, The New York Times reported.

Christie's did not detail what else is in the collection, but a traveling exhibit in 2016 gave a glimpse of the richness of the Allen art trove.

It features works by Monet, Manet, Klimt and others.

This year is shaping up as one of the biggest ever in the art market.

Besides the Macklowe auction, an Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe sold in May for $195 million -- a record for a piece of 20th-century art.

Christie’s CEO Guillaume Cerutti said the Allen auction will be like no other.

"The inspirational figure of Paul Allen, the extraordinary quality and diversity of works, and the dedication of all proceeds to philanthropy, create a unique combination that will make the sale of the Paul G. Allen Collection an event of unprecedented magnitude," Cerutti said.

“To Paul, art was both analytical and emotional. He believed that art expressed a unique view of reality –- combining the artist’s inner state and inner eye –- in a way that can inspire us all," said Jody Allen, the executor of the estate.

"His collection reflects the diversity of his interests, with their own mystique and beauty."

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More Than 100 Vultures Die in a Mass Poisoning in South Africa’s Flagship National Park 

A pair of Cape vultures is seen in their enclosure at the Vulture Program at Boekenhoutkloof near Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP)
A pair of Cape vultures is seen in their enclosure at the Vulture Program at Boekenhoutkloof near Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP)
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More Than 100 Vultures Die in a Mass Poisoning in South Africa’s Flagship National Park 

A pair of Cape vultures is seen in their enclosure at the Vulture Program at Boekenhoutkloof near Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP)
A pair of Cape vultures is seen in their enclosure at the Vulture Program at Boekenhoutkloof near Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2011. (AP)

At least 123 vultures died in South Africa's flagship national park after eating the carcass of an elephant that was poisoned by poachers with agricultural pesticides, park authorities and an animal conservation group said Thursday.

Another 83 vultures that were rescued from the site and transported for treatment by helicopter or a special vulture ambulance were recovering.

The mass poisoning was one of the worst seen in the famous Kruger National Park in northern South Africa, said SANParks, the national parks agency.

Vultures are key to wildlife ecosystems because of the clean up work they do feeding on the carcasses of dead animals. But that also makes them especially vulnerable to poisoning by poachers, either intentionally or as a result of the killing of other animals. Hundreds of vultures typically feed on a carcass.

The elephant had been poisoned by poachers in a remote part of the huge park to harvest its body parts for the illegal wildlife trade, SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust said.

Many vulture species are endangered in Africa because of poisoning and other threats to them. The affected birds in Kruger included Cape vultures, endangered lappet-faced vultures and critically-endangered white-backed and hooded vultures.

“This horrific incident is part of a broader crisis unfolding across southern Africa: the escalating use of poisons in wildlife poaching,” SANParks and the Endangered Wildlife Trust said in their joint statement. “Poachers increasingly use agricultural toxins to target high-value species.”

The Kruger National Park covers approximately 20,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) and is nearly twice the size of small countries like Jamaica and Qatar.

Rangers say they face a daily battle to guard species like rhinos, elephants and lions from poachers.

Vulture conservation organization Vulpro, which was not involved in the rescue, said the poisoning came at the start of the breeding season and many other birds that weren't found at the site could still be affected.