By Rob Harris
London: The remarkable personal collection of the late comedian Barry Humphries will go to auction early next year, including a pair of diamante-encrusted specs belonging to his alter ego Dame Edna Everage.
Humphries, who died in April 2023 aged 89, found global fame through appearances on stage and screen in Britain and later in the US, and through the comic characters he created, including the high camp of Edna and the offensive cultural attaché Sir Les Patterson.
The personal collection of Barry Humphries – including spectacles, rare paintings and books – will be sold at Christie’s next year. Credit: Artwork by Monique Westermann
In addition to his career as a writer, actor, television performer and host, Humphries was a decades-long champion of museums, libraries and the arts in general, a collector of contemporary art and one of Australia’s best-known bibliophiles. He is estimated to have owned about 50,000 volumes, divided between London and Sydney.
The sale of about 250 items from his personal collection, for which estimates range from £200 ($398.12) to £300,000, will take place at Christie’s in London on February 13. Leading the sale is work by artist Charles Conder, whose painting Sand Dunes, Ambleteuse, is expected to attract bids of £300,000.
Conder, born in Wales, was one of the key founders of the Heidelberg school of Australian impressionism with Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin and Arthur Streeton. Humphries was once said to have boasted the world’s largest collection of his work.
Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage at the Last Night of the BBC Poms at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019. Credit: AP
The sale will also offer highlights from Edna’s personal collection, ranging from costume and “face furniture” (glasses). The diamante-encrusted Sydney Opera House spectacles are estimated to sell for up to £1500.
Elsewhere, his collection includes a first edition copy of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance Of Being Earnest, which is inscribed to Wilde’s publisher and has a ceiling estimate of £150,000.
Christie’s London private and iconic collections associate director Benedict Winter said while Humphries was best remembered for his comedic genius, behind his famous figure was a true polymath and connoisseur.
“His passion for collecting and his insatiable appetite for deepening his knowledge was the driving force behind the acquisition of these fascinating and very diverse works of art,” Winter said. “This refined and engaging collection provides compelling insights into the private world of this very public performer.”
The auction also includes 19th-century European and symbolist art. Jean Delville’s L’Oubli Des Passions is estimated to sell for up to £180,000 and Le Collier De Medailles by Fernand Khnopff has a top estimate of £100,000.
The auction will include diamante-encrusted Sydney Opera House spectacles worn by Dame Edna.Credit: Christie’s Images
Bored with his home city, Humphries moved from Melbourne to Britain in 1959, part of a wave of creative expatriates, including humorist Clive James and artist Brett Whiteley, showcasing the Australian voice: earthy and irreverent but superficially polite.
Critics would later acclaim him after a run of sell-out shows as the greatest one-man showman since Charles Dickens and perhaps in the history of theatre. In later years, he was disowned by some in the arts community over remarks that were viewed as transphobic. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival dropped his name from its top award in 2019.
A full pre-sale exhibition will be on public view in London from February 7 until February 12.
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