MONTAG, 21. SEPTEMBER 2026 
Before BB, there was Brigitte Bardot: a young Parisian raised in a middle-class household, trained in classical dance, and noticed very early on for her photogenic qualities. Within a few years, however, her face took on a life of its own. It became a subject for photographers, illustrators, and painters, then an image reproduced by the movies, magazines, posters, and soon the Republic itself.
The transformation was complete with Et Dieu… créa la femme, directed by Roger Vadim in 1956. The film initially received a lukewarm reception in France, before its international release sent shockwaves through the world. In New York, it remained in the same theater for eight months. What captivated audiences was not only Bardot’s beauty, but also an attitude that was still new to cinema: a young woman who belonged only to herself, who followed her desires without asking for forgiveness, walked barefoot, laughed, ran, and danced freely.
The movie poster preserved at La Madrague takes us back to that turning point (lot 58). Next to it are a photograph of Bardot lying on the beach (lot 56), costume designs by Georges Wakhevitch and Jacqueline Moreau (lot 54), and a watercolor depicting her as Bonnie (lot 55). Cinema imposes a “Bardot style” characterized by sunshine, movement, simplicity, and spontaneity. Alongside the photographs, another collection has taken shape: that of the various perspectives on her. Carzou dedicated a portrait to her “in memory of her first photo shoot” (lot 1), followed by a second drawing dated 1967 (lot 6). Dussart shifts from photography to ink; Sempé (lot 40), Dubout (lot 41), Kiraz (lot 443, Folon (lot 46), and Léonor Fini, in turn, join this constellation.
Two works by Léonor Fini hold a special place in the collection: Le Sphinge de Brigitte, inscribed “For the more-than-beautiful Brigitte,” and a headdress design created for the 1972 Rothschild Surrealist Ball (lots 42 and 143). These works found their way into her home through encounters, friendships, and tributes. “I’m not going to hang my face on the walls just to gaze at myself all day!” she would say, according to Frank Guillou, her personal secretary. Yet she kept many portraits because they had been given to her by artists whose gesture had touched her.
In the late 1960s, Alain Aslan depicted her as Marianne (lot 50). Two lithographs included in the auction highlight this shift in scale: the actress, who had become a cultural phenomenon, entered the republican canon. France adopted the face of a woman who had, in fact, challenged its conventions and now embodied freedom.
Posters, photographs and press clippings round out this exhibition. Three articles gathered under the title “I chose freedom » (lot 53) sum up the Bardot paradox: her image is amplified by the media, while she herself asserts her right to break free from it. There were the images others made of her, but also those she made of herself. A self-portrait depicts her in pencil and charcoal on blue paper; she also drew Roger Vadim, while Vadim sketched her profile as a child (lots 64 through 66). For once, Bardot was no longer merely a model for others: she picked up the pencil and chose what she wanted to reveal about herself.
>> Download the full press release (English version)
Brigitte Bardot, from idol to icon : A piece of the legend up for auction
A s early as 1987, Brigitte Bardot had turned personal belongings into a means of action, donating them to benefit the cause she championed and the organization she had just founded¹, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation. The auction organized by MILLON on September 21, 2026, in which 285 lots from his residences in Saint-Tropez and Paris will be offered at auction, extends this gesture. The proceeds will benefit the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, as well as her son, Nicolas-Jacques Charrier.
She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world. A beloved icon of cinema. An embodiment of freedom in a France constrained by convention. A woman in her own right with unwavering conviction, who devoted the second half of her life to animal welfare. On December 28, 2025, Brigitte Bardot passed away, taking with her a certain sense of the carefree spirit of the yé-yé years, the parties in Saint-Tropez, and the French “ninth art.” But behind this dazzling image, she leaves behind, above all, a living legacy—the result of her dedication and determination: the Brigitte Bardot Foundation.
From her first step as a dancer to the birth of BB, from the intimacy of her homes to her commitment to animals, clothes, furniture and mementos reveal an unknown side of her world: the one that cinema and the press have etched into the collective memory, but also, and above all, a more private realm.
A signed portrait “in memory of her first photo shoot, her black tutu, two guitars, an Olivetti Lettera 22, two bottles of L’Heure Bleue, some jewelry, a guestbook, small clocks, and stuffed animals: all of these are reminders of her various lives. The story takes us from Paris to Saint-Tropez, all the way to Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, a place she called home that has become a sanctuary for animals.
By the late 1950s, BB was already more than just a star. The way she walked barefoot, danced, dressed, and loved was closely watched and imitated. Her image shook up traditional notions of femininity just as much as it worried the guardians of moral order. This public life, however, had its downside: the desire to escape the public eye and find meaning in her life.
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From her first step as a dancer to the birth of BB, from the intimacy of her homes to her commitment to animals, clothes, furniture and mementos reveal an unknown side of her world: the one that cinema and the press have etched into the collective memory, but also, and above all, a more private realm.
A signed portrait “in memory of her first photo shoot, her black tutu, two guitars, an Olivetti Lettera 22, two bottles of L’Heure Bleue, some jewelry, a guestbook, small clocks, and stuffed animals: all of these are reminders of her various lives. The story takes us from Paris to Saint-Tropez, all the way to Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, a place she called home that has become a sanctuary for animals.
By the late 1950s, BB was already more than just a star. The way she walked barefoot, danced, dressed, and loved was closely watched and imitated. Her image shook up traditional notions of femininity just as much as it worried the guardians of moral order. This public life, however, had its downside: the desire to escape the public eye and find meaning in her life.
From Brigitte Bardot to BB, a French icon, a global phenomenon
Before BB, there was Brigitte Bardot: a young Parisian raised in a middle-class household, trained in classical dance, and noticed very early on for her photogenic qualities. Within a few years, however, her face took on a life of its own. It became a subject for photographers, illustrators, and painters, then an image reproduced by the movies, magazines, posters, and soon the Republic itself.
The transformation was complete with Et Dieu… créa la femme, directed by Roger Vadim in 1956. The film initially received a lukewarm reception in France, before its international release sent shockwaves through the world. In New York, it remained in the same theater for eight months. What captivated audiences was not only Bardot’s beauty, but also an attitude that was still new to cinema: a young woman who belonged only to herself, who followed her desires without asking for forgiveness, walked barefoot, laughed, ran, and danced freely.
The movie poster preserved at La Madrague takes us back to that turning point (lot 58). Next to it are a photograph of Bardot lying on the beach (lot 56), costume designs by Georges Wakhevitch and Jacqueline Moreau (lot 54), and a watercolor depicting her as Bonnie (lot 55). Cinema imposes a “Bardot style” characterized by sunshine, movement, simplicity, and spontaneity. Alongside the photographs, another collection has taken shape: that of the various perspectives on her. Carzou dedicated a portrait to her “in memory of her first photo shoot” (lot 1), followed by a second drawing dated 1967 (lot 6). Dussart shifts from photography to ink; Sempé (lot 40), Dubout (lot 41), Kiraz (lot 443, Folon (lot 46), and Léonor Fini, in turn, join this constellation.
Two works by Léonor Fini hold a special place in the collection: Le Sphinge de Brigitte, inscribed “For the more-than-beautiful Brigitte,” and a headdress design created for the 1972 Rothschild Surrealist Ball (lots 42 and 143). These works found their way into her home through encounters, friendships, and tributes. “I’m not going to hang my face on the walls just to gaze at myself all day!” she would say, according to Frank Guillou, her personal secretary. Yet she kept many portraits because they had been given to her by artists whose gesture had touched her.
In the late 1960s, Alain Aslan depicted her as Marianne (lot 50). Two lithographs included in the auction highlight this shift in scale: the actress, who had become a cultural phenomenon, entered the republican canon. France adopted the face of a woman who had, in fact, challenged its conventions and now embodied freedom.
Posters, photographs and press clippings round out this exhibition. Three articles gathered under the title “I chose freedom » (lot 53) sum up the Bardot paradox: her image is amplified by the media, while she herself asserts her right to break free from it. There were the images others made of her, but also those she made of herself. A self-portrait depicts her in pencil and charcoal on blue paper; she also drew Roger Vadim, while Vadim sketched her profile as a child (lots 64 through 66). For once, Bardot was no longer merely a model for others: she picked up the pencil and chose what she wanted to reveal about herself.
>> Download the full press release (English version)
