September 20, 2026

"Ending her career in the movies at the age of 39, she fled the paparazzi who had hounded her and the male admirers who had so often let her down..."

"The day-to-day items which surrounded her during these decades, and which form the core of the sale on September 21, are a testimony to her rejection of the star system she had come to abhor. Many are remarkable in their ordinariness — a wooden desk worth no more than €50, a straw hat valued at between €20 and €40, a lot of five night gowns priced between €100 and €150.... The items on display in the auction room attracted a constant flow of visitors last week. Among them was Yoann Guer, 25, who works in the theatre world. He conceded that many of the objects were 'common' but added that he might bid for something anyway because they 'have a little bit of Brigitte Bardot’s soul in them.' Guer described her as a symbol of 'freedom, including the freedom not to do what you do not want to do.'"

I'm reading "Bric-a-brac tells story of Brigitte Bardot’s humble life/The late star’s belongings will go on sale next week in Paris and the ordinary possessions are testimony to her rejection of the system she had come to abhor" (London Times).

"Conceded" is the wrong word.

I see: "Brigitte Bardot widower slams sale of star's belongings": "The sale, featuring more than 300 items ranging from portraits and toiletries to a flamenco guitar and a black tutu, is due to take place Monday at Paris auction house Drouot. 'These are personal items. Why hold this sale? For the animals? It's a joke,' Bernard d'Ormale told AFP, adding it amounted to a 'disrespect to Brigitte's memory.'... The Brigitte Bardot Foundation rejected the criticism, saying the auction was approved by the board in June, including Bardot's widower, who was then its president."


"What would Brigitte Bardot have done?"

21 comments:

Left Bank of the Charles said...

"What would Brigitte Bardot have done?"

What she apparently did was will all this stuff to her animal rights foundation rather than to her husband.

Ann Althouse said...

I don't think this happened because of a will. I think this happened because of a foundation that she had going for a long time during her life. The husband served as the president of the Foundation, and he voted for this disposal of her personal property. I don't think she would have been married to him if he didn't share her enthusiasm for giving everything possible to the animals.

Peachy+2 said...

There's a "board" ?

Wince said...

The collection of items seemed tastefully curated and displayed. Nothing too personal. I’d assume the highest bidders would be people who placed tremendous sentimental value on the item. He’d rather trash the stuff?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

They really ought to get a priest or somebody like that to set loose the little bits of her soul within those objects because she could probably make use of them.

n.n said...

Feminine aesthetics. Gender differences.

n.n said...

Sex-driven gender differences are why women roost and men hunt.

planetgeo said...

Beautiful, fascinating woman. Feral in a way that few beautiful women ever are. For me, that was her greatest allure.

Bob Boyd said...

"a lot of five night gowns priced between €100 and €150"

What's a five night gown?

William said...

There will be a separate auction for items of intimate apparel. It will be held on Only Fans and is expected to raise millions.

NKP said...

Genders seem to be evolving. Males of my vintage might recognize Bardot as neither “rooster” or “hunter” but as a woman with a great ass.

Women today, seem primarily interested in cultural dominance. Academia, publishing, HR and increasingly, medicine, law and elected office. The last of those may be the end of us all.

Achilles said...

LOL!

Woman gains unearned super power by being pretty.

Rides that unearned power until she is 39.

Turns bitter that she lost that power and starts to "abhor" that system.

Boring.

Ice Nine said...

I'm trying to remember why Brigitte Bardot was significant. Was she anything more than a beautiful woman (of which there are many)? Oh that's right, she was an actress. So what? - there are many of those, also. I recall of course that there was a sex angle; she took off her clothes or something back when that was unusual. She also had that kind of perpetual CFM look, to turn the guys on. Is there anything more to her than that? Oh that's right, she loved animals, blah blah...

David53 said...

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation was her animal rights foundation, they’re the ones auctioning off her stuff, IIRC Bardot auctioned off a lot of her stuff to fund her foundation after she quit acting back in the 70s. The foundation is following her precedent. She became a vocal supporter of the National Front She got the Far Right label for wanting to preserve French identity.

NKP said...

Contemporary “empowered” women would give Ice Nine mega dittos for that one!!!

bagoh20 said...

"She also had that kind of perpetual CFM look, to turn the guys on. Is there anything more to her than that?"

Few things are as powerful. It has changed the course of history more than once. The most powerful men are weakened by it, as well as everyone below them. As dangerous and destructive as it can be, I would not choose to give up my own susceptibility. It's that powerful.

Lazarus said...

I'm looking forward to "Bardot in the Bardo" from George Saunders (not the actor).

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

When Bridgette Bardot died I figured I'd improve myself by watching some movies with her in them and they were okay and she was okay but that time might have been better spent having a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shave my testicles.

Saint Croix said...

Bardot made a lot of bad movies but La Verite is beautiful and super-cool. That's the one to watch, if you want to know why people are still talking about her, 65 years later.

Saint Croix said...

1960 was a great year in French cinema. That was the year of Breathless, one of the coolest movies ever made by anybody. Written by Truffaut and directed by Godard.

The same year, Clouzot released La Verite. Clouzot was not part of the French New Wave. He was old school. He shot films under the Nazis, under the French studio system. The New Wave critics hated on him. And yet Diabolique (1955) is fantastic. Le Corbeau (1943), The Murderer Lives at #21 (1942). The Wages of Fear (1953). Hitchcock respected the hell out of him. And the two of them would compete for scripts. Hitch was mad that he missed out on Diabolique, and got the rights to a different book by the same writers, which would become Vertigo.

While the French New Wave was rocking with Truffaut and Godard, it was old man Clouzot who showcased the sex symbol of France, Brigitte Bardot, in 1960. Godard would try to copy him, and use Bardot in Contempt a few years later. Sad!

It's too bad Truffaut never used Bardot. That might have been something. And skip right over Roger Vadim's Bardot movie. Vadim is the soft porn lizard man of France. He married Bardot, and they made horrible movies together. She divorced him when she was 23.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Sydney Sweeney's net worth is comparable, though I think she loves eating animals rather than saving them. Maybe she'll leave it all to the NRA or the Safari Club.

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