From Mapplethorpe to Versace, Elton John Set to Auction Artwork and Memorabilia in February

The beginning of the year is when many people seek out a fresh start, with abstinence, health, and minimalism high on many resolution lists. Sir Elton John is no exception to that calendar-related urge to make like Marie Kondo and purge, as he’s recently cleaned out his entire Atlanta penthouse, and will be selling its contents—costumes, artworks, dishes, and glasses (of course)—to bidders next month.

It’s a collection amassed since 1991, when the singer first bought his duplex apartment in Atlanta, Georgia’s 40-story Park Place on Peachtree skyscraper. “I’ve lived here for 30 years, and I’ve loved every single minute,” John told an Atlanta crowd last fall, as he wound up his final tour before retirement. “So I will take you with me in my heart, in my soul, and I’ll never forget you.”

Now the icon has returned home to England, telling Vanity Fair that his preferred home henceforth would be his Adrian Cooper-Grigg and Andrew Protheroe-designed Queen Anne near the village of Old Windsor. In November, the icon sold the 13,000-square-foot Georgia residence for $7.225 million after just a few weeks on the market, a price 45 percent above its $5 million ask, Architectural Digest reports.

But what do you do with all the stuff inside that home? John has lived in his Windsor mansion since 1974, so it’s safe to assume that it’s already jam-packed with possessions. And the glitz-meets-modern Atlanta space had an arguably different vibe than the country mansion he shares with husband David Furnish and sons  Zachary (age 13) and Elijah (age 11). “My apartment in Atlanta was like my man cave full of things that I loved, mementos from everywhere in the world, things that gave me inspiration every day,” John said. 

The best solution, the 76-year-old musician decided, would be to sell off the lot of it, so that’s what he did. Starting on February 9, the New York location of famed auction house Christie’s will display items from the Goodbye Peachtree Road collection, as it’s now known. Fans of the artist can view John’s possessions during operating hours at 20 Rockefeller Plaza, Christie’s confirms.

The items will be auctioned off starting on February 21, and are expected to generate $10 million, The New York Times reports. The broad-ranging list of items up for sale will include John’s living-room piano, a Yamaha grand with an estimated worth of $50,000; a pair of silver platform boots valued at as much as $10,000; prescription sunglasses from 1973 expected to go for $3,000; and a full Versace table service (the “Medusa Red” pattern, as one might expect) valued at $6,000.

There’s also John’s Atlanta art collection, which includes photos from modern masters of the art, as well as works by Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, and Banksy. 

John hasn’t publicly commented on the auction, allowing Furnish to do most of the talking. That’s because, Furnish tells the NYT, “Elton hates parting with things. It is a very emotional decision.”

But like any spouse married to an, ahem, collector, Furnish has had to be firm. “You have to reach a stage where you can’t just continue to accumulate,” he says of the decision to sell off the 900 or so items in next month’s auction. “There’s very much a little piece of Elton’s soul in every single item. Buyers of these pieces are going home with something that has, without question, inspired Elton in his artistic journey.”

Emmys 2024: Our Final Predictions for Every Winner

Why Fox News Can’t Quit Trump, the “Monster We Created”

The Real-Life Story That Inspired Netflix’s Dark Oscar Contender

Beyond a “Biohacker” Tech Bro’s Quest to Cheat Death