Pavarotti's treasures are put up for sale

Three art works owned by the tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who died in September 2007, are being auctioned off in Paris by his second wife to raise cash for her new institute for training tenors.

The works consist of a 1928 Marc Chagall watercolour (estimated at Euros 200-300,000), a 1955 Giorgio de Chirico sketch of horses (15-20,000) and a 1955/6 Massimo Campigli oil painting (200-300,000). The paintings were bought originally to hang in the tenor’s houses in Modena, Pesaro, Monte Carlo and New York.

Their sale on December 6 is just a taster for a  massive disposal of 250 items of Pavarotti’s personal property next year, including his blue-and-white Fiat 750. His widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, hopes to realise up to two million Euros ($3 million) from the clearout.

Here’s Le Figaro’s report. (this one’s not included)