After LA wildfire scare, Guillermo del Toro auctions part of horror collection
TORONTO — Director Guillermo del Toro is facing his own mortality and confronting the reality of frequent natural disasters by auctioning part of his collection of monsters and fantasy objects that are frequently the subject of his gothic films.
After a third of the items in his collection of film mementos and artwork are sold in a three-part auction starting this month, Mr. Del Toro joked that visitors to his Bleak House collection in suburban Los Angeles (LA) wouldn’t be able to tell anything is missing. Still, choosing what to part with was hard.
“I’m not just going to auction things without them hurting a little,” Mr. Del Toro said in an interview in Toronto, where he lives part time. His latest film Frankenstein screened at the Toronto International Film Festival last week.
Items for sale include concept sketches from his 1992 film Cronos, an original figure of the amphibian from The Shape of Water, and two original plates from the adaptation of Frankenstein by Bernie Wrightson.
Mr. Del Toro, known for blending fantasy and horror in films, says he has been obsessed with Mary Shelley’s novel, first published in 1818, since he was a boy and had always wanted to create his own film version.
Deadly wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year influenced Mr. Del Toro’s decision to auction. Friends were able to move about 120 pieces as fires approached. It was the third time fires have threatened Bleak House, which has also survived an earthquake, Mr. Del Toro said.
“I’m 60. You have to have a plan. These are all my children. I got to make sure they go to good homes,” he said.
The Guillermo del Toro Collection will be offered in a live auction by Heritage Auctions beginning on Sept. 26. — Reuters
