Welles’ ‘Citizen Kane’ Oscar Pulled from NY Auction
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Orson Welles’ Oscar for the classic movie “Citizen Kane” will not be auctioned after a dispute with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Christie’s auction house said on Tuesday.
The Oscar, awarded to Welles for co-authoring a film many regard as the best ever made, was slated to go under the hammer on Friday as part of a sale of memorabilia.
Welles’ daughter Beatrice Welles had wanted to sell the statuette, but it was withdrawn after the Academy invoked its right to buy the Oscar back for $1.
“The Oscar will not be offered for sale,” said Bendetta Roux at Christie’s in New York. “We have decided that the dispute between the Academy and our consignor was still ongoing and not settled.”
John Pavlik, spokesman for the Academy, said, “We basically object each time (a sale is attempted) in those instances where we have agreements.”
Beatrice Welles signed an agreement to give the Academy a right of first refusal when it gave her a duplicate Oscar after the original was thought to be lost.
The original was later recovered.
The Academy in 1950 demanded Oscar recipients sign an agreement giving it the right to buy back the coveted statuettes for $1 each if they were put up for sale.
Pavlik said talks between lawyers for the Academy and for Welles were still ongoing about whether it would buy back the Oscar in this case.
“Citizen Kane” was the top-ranked movie on the AmericanFilm Institute’s “Greatest American Movies of All Time” list.
Christie’s Friday auction of entertainment items will offer a costume tail coat from “Citizen Kane,” offered by an anonymous seller, and among other items some Beatles memorabilia and a Gibson guitar once owned by Bruce Springsteen.
Categories