Following a protracted family dispute over the estate of Senator Dianne Feinstein and her wealthy financier husband Richard Blum, the late couple's $3 million collection of Himalayan art will be sold at auction later this month, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Over 40 rare paintings and sculptures spanning eight centuries from across Tibet, Nepal, and Greater China, accumulated by Feinstein and Blum over three decades are slated to go under the hammer at upscale auction house Bonhams New York on March 20.
Standout pieces from the collection include a late 12th/early 13th-century portrait thangka of a Tibetan Buddhist teacher and a 16th-century copper alloy portrait of Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lundrup, the great abbot of Mustang in modern-day Nepal, both of which are expected to fetch $400,000-$600,000. A Nepalese paubha, a religious painting of a Vaishnavite temple dated 1716, is estimated between $300,000 and $500,000.
"The Richard C. Blum and Senator Dianne Feinstein Collection of Himalayan Art is a true testament to the couple's discerning eye and attention to detail when adding to their collection for over 30 years," said Edward Wilkinson, Bonhams' global head of Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art. "The collection was integral to their lives, present almost without exception in every room of their homes and offices. We are honored to be entrusted with bringing it to auction."
Blum, a private equity investor who founded the American Himalayan Foundation in 1981 and befriended the Dalai Lama, died in 2022. As RadarOnline.com previously reported, squabbles over Blum's sizable estate began before Feinstein died in September 2023.
The 90-year-old California senator gave her daughter Katherine Feinstein power of attorney in July, shortly before Katherine filed a lawsuit against the trustees of Dianne’s late husband's estate.
According to the court filing, Katherine alleged that estate co-trustees Michael Klein, Marc Scholvinck, and Verett Mims violated California’s elder abuse laws in their handling of financial disbursements to her late mother.
The dispute continued after Feinstein's death in September, with the estate's co-trustees fighting over family assets including multi-million dollar properties, automobiles in Aspen, and the surplus of "Himalayan stuff."
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