Iconic Spotlight: Charlie Watts Auction

This month, Christie’s will be hosting Charlie Watts: Gentleman, Collector, Rolling Stone, a two-part auction of the legendary drummers’ vast and eclectic library of modern first-edition books as well as ultra-rare items from the world of jazz. A flagship auction will take place live in London on September 28, with an accompanying online auction open for bidding between September 15 and 29.

Watts, who passed away in 2021, was an avid collector, as well as a debonair dresser with long, strong, imposing features that offset his famous gentleness of character – the perfect recipe for a fascinating photographic subject.

No one documented the complexity of his character on film better than Gered Mankowitz, official friend and photographer of the Stones through the mid-to-late 1960s. During studio sessions for Between the Buttons and Aftermath, Mankowitz captured Watts in all moods of artistic deliberation, work-weary playfulness and stony-faced determination.

Watts was, famously, the driving force behind the band’s ceaseless touring in their later years. Now the Stones are gearing up to release yet another album and hit the road once again: a fitting tribute to Charlie’s memory.