Standing in the Little Silhouetto of a Man: Perspectives on Value, via the Sotheby’s auction of Freddie Mercury’s Personal Collection (Blog Post #1 - Matthew Bergs)

 When it was announced in April this year that Sotheby’s was planning to auction off the personal collection of Freddie Mercury,  the late lead-singer of Queen, it drew the attention of the global audience. Nearly 1,500 items of Mercury’s possessions, including musical instruments, stage costuming, jewelry, purchased artwork, and other personal effects, were provided to the auction house to be sold in six auctions held in September. Sotheby’s displayed a plethora of items at their Bond St headquarters the month prior to the auctions, drawing in lines of curious spectators that filled the nearby blocks for days. The auctions began on Wednesday, September 6, and will conclude this week. 

When auction houses deal with items of a famous individual, much of the items sold start their bidding price at what they would be valued at when divorced from the star in question (1). Bidders, enticed by obtaining memorabilia from the star, inflate the value of these items well beyond their estimates, an occurrence often dubbed “star power” (1). The highest-fetching item to be auctioned off, for example, was a Yamaha grand piano, which was used by Mercury when composing the iconic Bohemian Rhapsody; it garnered a record-breaking £1.7m ($2.2m). When it comes to items that auction houses are more accustomed to selling (in this case, Mercury’s collection of art and jewelry), they tend to be valued relative to other works of their caliber, and thus may not exceed their estimates as wildly as other items. Mercury’s collection did include artwork such as a vast collection of Japanese woodblock prints (enough to earn their own auction), and prints by renowned Spanish artists such as Picasso and Dali. 

The original draft of Bohemian Rhapsody, scrawled on airline stationary. The lyrics sold for £1.38m ($1.7m).

(Source: Apollo Magazine)

There’s certainly much to be said about the items themselves, a testament to Mercury’s tastes in home décor, as it is “a very intelligent, sophisticated collection” (2). But when I come across stories highlighting the cultural influence that celebrities can wield, I often wish to learn about the personable impacts the celebrity made to those around them, and how those impacts stand in the current events. Edward Behrens dives into the approach that the auction house took with displaying and selling this collection, noting that there was an enthusiastic push to hype the items up before bids were placed. The documented lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody, for instance, were introduced with a fanfare not traditionally given to items put up for bid. In tune with the showmanship of Mercury, Sotheby’s took a great interest in using this sale as a means of bringing in a wider audience, promoting themselves as the. For them, there is value in Freddie Mercury’s legacy, and how it elevates the monetary value of the items in the collection. 

The auction brought a wholly different reaction from Sir Brian May, the guitarist of Queen. In an Instagram post published ahead of the auction, May shared a photograph, writing “At the time this photo was taken I’m sure it didn’t seem very important to see Freddie’s fingers dancing on my own home-made guitar. Now it summons up waves of affection and great memories. He is so missed” (3). For May, and perhaps other members of the band, seeing their band-member’s former possessions dispersed to the highest bidder is unbearable to watch. To them, there is value in Freddie Mercury’s camaraderie and collaboration, and the items being sold have less of a monetary value, and more of a sentimental connection to their memories of their former frontman.  

The photograph Brian May shared, of Mercury playing his guitar. 

(Source: Brian May)

But what of the progenitor of the auction itself? Mary Austin, Mercury’s once-fiancée and close confidant, inherited the collection upon Mercury’s death in 1991, and made the decision to put it up for auction as a means of tidying her own affairs as she enters the later stage of her life. For her, this was an examination of thirty-some years lived without her dear friend, and the hard question of how to pass forward the collection he had amassed in his lifetime. It was difficult for her to part with some of the items, but she felt that, aside from a few personal things, she needed to bravely sell it all. Part of the sale’s proceeds will fund charity, with one lump going to the Mercury Phoenix Trust and another to the Elton John Aids Foundation (3). To Austin, there was value in the time she and Freddie had spent together. In choosing to sell the collection, she makes the decision to part ways with a part of him, on her own terms. Whether friend, collaborator, or celebrated figure, Mercury’s cultural mark has been indeed cemented in this sale, anyone can see. Nothing really matters, nothing really matters, to me.

(Any way the wind blows...)

Bibliography

1.  Behrens, Edward. “The Freddie Mercury Sale Is a Show That Could Go on and On.” Apollo 

Magazine, September 10, 2023.

https://www.apollo-magazine.com/freddie-mercury-sothebys-sale/.

2.  Jones, Rebecca. “Freddie Mercury: Queen Star’s Friend Mary Austin to Auction His Personal 

Treasures.” BBC News, April 26, 2023.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65375583. 

3.  Lewis, Isobel. “Brian May says Freddie Mercury auction is ‘too sad’ to think about as items 

sell for £12m.” The Independent, September 7, 2023.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/brian-may-freddie-mercur

y-auction-b2407155.html.

4.  “Freddie Mercury’s Opening Night Makes History.” Sothebys.com, September 11, 2023. 

https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/freddie-mercurys-opening-night-makes-history?loc

ale=en.