Property from the Darren Shan Collection | 10 May 2022, West Sussex

Bellmans are delighted to be offering paintings and sculpture from Darren Shan collection (Lots 305-363), 10 May 2022, from 2pm at the West Sussex saleroom and online. Shan was born in London in 1972 and moved to Limerick with his family at the age of six. He began writing as a teenager. His work was first published in 1999 with the novel Ayuamarca which was subsequently re-released in March 2008 with the new title, Procession of the Dead. Hell’s Horizon and City of the Snakes completed the trilogy and was followed in January 2000 with the release of Cirque du Freak, the first novel in the series The Saga of Darren Shan which has received worldwide acclaim. As of last year Dan Shan’s novels were available in forty countries, having been translated into thirty-two languages with worldwide sales of thirty million copies and earning Shan the title of 'The Master of Horror'.

Highlights of the collection include:

Valery Koshlyakov, Aqueduct, £10,000 -£15,000

Chris Bracey, Pole Dancers, £10,000 - £15,000

Karl Hagedorn, The Big Wheel, £3,000 - £5,000

Graham Knuttel, Romance (Honey it is time we leave), £3,000 - £5,000

Boris Svechnikoff, Snow from the Past, £3,000 - £5,000

Jean Carzou, Oiseaux, £1,500 - £2,000

Dale Mathis, David Mechanica, £1,000 - £1,500

Brian McCarthy, 7 Billion, £1,000 -£1,500

Hans Deuss, Toekans, £1,000 - £1,500

Aurel Richter, Marin et Fille, £700 - £1,000

Alexandre Nicolas, Vaderfoetus, £500 -£700

George Callaghan, The Night Shift, £300 - £500

Considering his collection and the items he has decided to sell, Shan explains, ‘When my books started to sell well in the early noughties, I began thinking about what to do with the money that I was now making. (Having previously been on the dole for a number of years, this wasn't something I'd ever had to think about before!) As a big fan of comics, I started to collect comic art, something I have continued to do over the years since. But as my interest in comic art deepened, I also found myself starting to explore the world of "fine art." I began visiting art galleries and museums, and going to auction houses, learning as I went.

With no background in art appreciation, I simply gravitated towards pieces that grabbed my interest, works that my eyes kept returning to. I never felt tied to any particular styles, and never limited myself. A Jackson Pollack-style drawing, painted by a child (Marla Olmstead)? I liked it, so I bought it! A steamy picture of a nun by a tattoo artist (Shawn Barber)? Bring it on! Sometimes I got to communicate directly with the artists, which was always a nice bonus - Brian McCarthy even drove down from Dublin by himself to deliver 7 Billion to me!

I never "went sour" on any pieces that I bought. I always carefully considered before I purchased, and each of these works means as much to me now as it did when I first added it to my collection. The hoarder in me wanted to hang onto them indefinitely and never let them go! But I've run out of wall space, and I didn't want to lock them away in storage where no one could appreciate them, so I forced myself to go through and whittle down my collection. It was hard, and I'm already regretting letting some of the paintings go, but hey, as I keep telling myself, my loss is somebody else's gain! I hope they all find good homes, and that their buyers end up enjoying them as much as I have, and for as long (or even longer) as I've been lucky enough to have with them.’ (Darren Shan, 2022)

Open for Viewing:

Friday 6 May | 9am - 5pm
Saturday 7 May | 9am - 12pm
Monday 9 May | 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 10 May | 9am - 2pm

Browse and bid auction gallery here.

For further information about this forthcoming auction, please visit bellmans.co.uk or contact our specialists Julian Dineen: [email protected] | 01403 700858 or Michael Grist: [email protected] | 01403 700858