A Picasso painting owned by Sir Sean Connery is expected to fetch £15million at auction to help Scottish charities.
The late James Bond star’s family are selling the artwork after he requested that a philanthropic trust should be sent up in his name after his death.
The Sean Connery Philanthropic Fund will donate money to good causes in Scotland and the Bahamas where the star lived with wife Micheline for more than 30 years.
The Edinburgh -born actor bought Picasso’s Buste d’homme dans un cadre a few years before his death aged 90 in 2020.
The 1969 painting will be sold at auction house Christie’s 20th and 21st Century Art Sale in Hong Kong on May 26.
Connery’s stepson Stephane Connery, an art adviser, said: “Sean loved and owned numerous works by Picasso. Upon seeing ‘Buste d’homme dans un cadre’ he was captivated by its expressive power and freedom.
“We are working to create a fund that will offer support to organisations that reflect Sean’s interests and passions.”
The painting is one of the Spanish artist’s musketeer portraits and is described as “one of the finest.”
Adrien Meyer, from Christie’s, said: “It is a privilege for Christie’s to have been entrusted by the family of Sir Sean Connery with the sale of this fabulous Picasso self-portrait.”
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