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ingmar bergman

Swedes Show Love for Bergman at Stockholm Auction

Filed under: Auctions, Art

All year, I've sifted through story after story in which auctions either miss or barely attain low-end estimates. So, the action at Bukowskis auction house in Stockholm easily caught my attention. The chess set (probably) used in the match against Death in Ingmar Bergman's 1957 film "The Seventh Seal" sold for a whopping 100 times the minimum. So, where bidders are committed, there is still plenty of life in the auction market.

The pieces, made from wood and plaster, went for $143,270 shortly after midnight (local) on Tuesday morning. The low-end for the chess set was between $1,400 and $2,100. In total, 339 lots sold at the Bukowskis auction, resulting in $2.5 million, 8.5 times the minimum aggregate asking price of $285,000. Bergman's writing desk, designed by Carl Malmsten, moved for nearly $23,000, and a pair of night tables adorned with scribbled personal notes by Bergman sold for just over $48,000 – despite the commencement of bidding at $2,800.

Depending on the estate, it seems, the auction market is coming back.

Ingmar Bergman's Belongings Up For Sale

Filed under: Auctions

ingmar bergman by irving pennWe already saw the listing for legendary Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman's island retreat now a Stockholm firm is auctioning off his belongings on September 28. According to spokesperson for the Bukowskis auction house, it was Bergman's wish that his belongs be auctioned in order to prevent them from being caught up in some "kind of emotional hullabaloo." The belongings are simple and mostly personal including a writing desk, household goods, film cameras and plenty of awards. The piece at right is a striking Irving Penn photo of Ingmar Bergman from 1965 which is also up for sale.

[via AP]

Ingmar Bergman's Island Retreat Up For Auction

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping


Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman's island retreat has been put up for auction. The AFP reports that his home on the Swedish island of Faro is estimated to be worth up to four million euros and that offers in that range have been coming in.

This location's light and stillness lent much to the films that Bergman shot there including ­"Persona," "The Shame," and "The Passion of Anna." The listing with Christie's Great Estates quotes Bergman's memoir in which he says, after visiting the island for the first time in 1960: "If one wished to be solemn, it could be said that I had found my real home; if one wished to be light hearted, it could be said that it was love at first sight."

The property on the remote and rugged island has four buildings. Hammars is the main house which was designed by architect Kjell Abramson with Bergman himself. The two-room writing lodge has an ocean view and was seen in the final sequence of the iconic television drama "Scenes from a Marriage." Angen is the winter retreat house with three bedrooms and a living room with a large fireplace and Damba, a restored 1854 farmhouse is next to a whitewashed barn which served as Bergman's private cinema.

A Swedish foundation wanted to buy the house and turn the house into a museum dedicated to his life and work but they didn't have enough money. Bergman died in 2007 at the age of 89 and the property is owned by his estate.

[Thanks, Lana]

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