Freddie Mercury’s Collection up For Auction at Sotheby's

Freddie Mercury’s dazzling creativity would catapult him beyond the realms of a musician or performer; he was one of those rare stars who is nothing less than a global cultural phenomenon. Yet, while Mercury captivated audiences across the globe, it was at his beloved home – Garden Lodge in Kensington, West London – where he fashioned his own private world, assembling a collection that reflected and fired his expansive imagination.

On acquiring Garden Lodge in 1980 – a beautiful, light-filled Georgian-style brick villa originally built for an artist and his sculptor wife in the early 20th century – Mercury set about creating a home that was at once grand and intimate, full of theatre and richly furnished with beautiful works of art. It was a place wholly of his own making, a home to which he could retreat, and where – surrounded by the abundant art and objects he carefully sought out over the course of years – he could entertain and create in a way that only he knew how.

For some 30 years, Garden Lodge has remained almost entirely as Mercury left it, complete with the many works of art that spoke to him so deeply: from Victorian paintings and striking works on paper by the greatest artists of the 20th century, to the finest examples of the glass maker’s art (a medium he loved beyond measure) and other beautiful objects; and from the exceptional fabrics and fine works he would seek out on trips to Japan, to the smaller, more personal items that were such an important part of his daily life. All complemented by defining objects from his more public life: a number of never-before-seen drafts of the immortal song lyrics, along with some of the riotous costumes that were the hallmark of Mercury’s signature style.