NEW YORK — Orson Welles’ 1941 Oscar for “Citizen Kane,” regarded by many as the greatest movie ever, will go on the auction block in December.
The Academy Award for best screenplay is estimated to sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million, Sotheby’s auction house said Tuesday.
The golden statuette, believed to have been once lost by Welles himself, resurfaced in 1994 and, after an extended legal battle, was returned to his estate. In 2003, it was acquired by the Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based charity. The proceeds will help fund the organization’s worldwide efforts.
“Citizen Kane,” a story about a power-hungry publishing magnate played by Welles and widely believed to be based on the life of William Randolph Hearst, was voted the No. 1 film in history by the American Film Institute in 2007 and by the British Film Institute in 2002.
The Oscar will be sold Dec. 11 and displayed at Sotheby’s in New York on Dec. 7-10.
Welles was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1970 “for superlative artistry and versatility in the creation of motion pictures.”
