One of Wilder's "very good ideas," the "Nefertete" series is based on an ancient bust that he admired as a youth in the Berlin State Museum. "I wanted to see how other artists would portray her, but they were all too busy." Wilder deadpans. His solution was to enlist the services of Houston, who created Nefertetes a la Warhol, Stella, Botero, Dalf, and Modigliani, among others.
And now, four years later, Dec. 13, Wilder puts up for sale another 180-200 of his art items at the Louis Stern BevHills Gallery. He modestly calls it a "Marche aux puces" (Flea Market), "to keep a low profile."
Billy Wilder, 87, Filmregisseur und passionierter Sammler, debütierte jetzt im kalifornischen Beverly Hills als Ausstellungs-macher. Herzstück seiner Ku-riositäten-Schau in der Galerie Louis Stern: eine Serie von 14 Variationen der berühmten Nofretete-Büste aus Kalkstein, die Wilder vor dem Krieg auf der Berliner Museumsinsel bewundert hatte. „Ich wollte sehen, wie andere Künstler sie porträtie-ren", scherzt Wilder, „doch die waren alle zu beschäftigt."
[Excerpt, Art-Talk]
Wilder's unique sense of humour is evidenced by an art exhibition, "Billy Wilder's Marché aux Puces," at the Louis Stern Galleries in Beverly Hills.
The six-time Oscar winner has decided to sell off some of his collection. To that end, he has mounted an exhibit of 40 paintings, sculptures and assemblages - some created by Wilder himself - at the Louis Stern Gallery in Beverly Hills, Calif. In a tip of the hat to the famed Paris flea market where he acquired some of the pieces, he's calling it "Billy Wilder's Marche Aux Puce."
Anyone familiar with Wilder's track record in the collecting department knows to expect high jinx.
Billy Wilder has a message for all you sourpusses, stick-in-the-muds and snobs: “If you don’t have a sense of humor, don’t come...”