Paul G. Allen’s innovative collection traces the history of human ingenuity (2024)

‘The possible is constantly being redefined,’ said Paul G. Allen, ‘and I care deeply about helping humanity move forward.’ As the co-founder of Microsoft, Mr. Allen ushered in a new era of technological possibility. His unceasing curiosity extended beyond the realm of computing innovations. As a dedicated philanthropist, accomplished guitarist, ocean explorer and entrepreneur, he sought ways to inspire future innovators and use data and technology to improve our lives.

He was also a passionate collector. Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection made history when it achieved $1.62 billion at Christie’s in November 2022, becoming the most valuable private collection ever to come to auction.

This fall, Christie’s in New York will offer over 150 objects of scientific and historical importance from Gen One: Innovations from the Paul G. Allen Collection. Assembled by a founding father of modern technology, the collection chronicles the history of human ingenuity, from first-generation technologies to interstellar exploration, and will be sold across three sales. As with Visionary, all estate proceeds from Gen One will be dedicated to philanthropy, pursuant to Mr. Allen’s wishes.

‘Looking at the collection as a whole, you’re able to see the building blocks of the most cutting-edge technology that exists today,’ says Devang Thakkar, Global Head of Christie’s Ventures. ‘Whether that’s the smartphone in your pocket that has billions of transistors or the watch on your wrist that you can call someone with. The technologies and discoveries represented in this collection enabled those advances.’

From a historic letter written by Albert Einstein to early mainframe computers, the objects spotlight humanity’s relentless pursuit of new frontiers and were hand-selected by one of the most groundbreaking innovators of our time.

The weight of innovation

In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt warning of the possibility of Germany’s ‘construction of extremely powerful bombs’ through nuclear fission. Often cited as one of the most influential letters of the 20th century, it set in motion a chain of events that ultimately led to the establishment of the Manhattan Project.

The letter’s inclusion in this collection showcases Mr. Allen’s interest in the pioneers of science and technology who came before him. At the time, Einstein wrote two nearly identical letters. One, which was slightly longer, was delivered to the President. It is now in the permanent collection of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, New York. The other, composed concurrently and signed by Einstein, will be offered as part of Mr. Allen’s collection.

The famous theoretical physicist is considered one of the most influential scientists of all time. For many, he is the personification of modern science: his theory of relativity transformed our understanding of space and time. The most famous equation of all time, E = mc2, shows that mass is equivalent to energy and is fundamental to explaining how energy is released by atom bombs.

The letter highlights the profound impact of technology on society — its importance as well as its dangers — a reality to which Mr. Allen was highly attuned. Einstein was an outspoken pacifist, and although he influenced the development of the atomic bomb, he would later tell his friend Linus Pauling, ‘I made one great mistake in my life — when I signed a letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made.”

The history of computing

If Einstein paved the way for a new era in physics, Mr. Allen and his collaborators ushered in a new era of computing. Starting with MS-DOS in 1981, Microsoft then went on to revolutionise personal computing with the launch of Windows in 1985. But before Microsoft became one of the most valuable public companies in the world, the seeds were sown on a DEC PDP-10 mainframe computer at Computer Center Corporation (CCC) in Seattle’s University District.

The first version of the PDP was launched in 1959 and the PDP-10 was unveiled in 1966. Prior to accessing the PDP-10 at CCC, Mr. Allen and Mr. Gates were first introduced to programming in BASIC at Lakeside School using a teletype connected to a remote GE-635 timesharing system. A few years later, at Harvard, they wrote the original BASIC for the Altair under simulation on the PDP-10. Altair BASIC became Microsoft's first product.

The DEC PDP-10 offered as part of the upcoming auction was introduced in 1971 and represents the second model of the PDP-10 family of computers. It is one of many historic machines that Mr. Allen collected and restored over the years. In 2012, he created the the Living Computers Museum to house the growing collection of vintage technology with a focus on hands-on experiences. Restoring these early computers was difficult and time consuming, and Mr. Allen often worked on them himself. He dedicated personal time to the PDP-10, coming to the museum after work at his firm Vulcan Inc. to lead a debugging session. ‘I think it was nostalgic for him,’ says Thakkar. ‘He was recreating these old memories.’

Yet it was for much more than his own benefit that Mr. Allen amassed such a vast array of historic technology. ‘These objects do not just define the history of Microsoft and what they’ve done,’ says Thakkar, ‘but also the history of technology generally and what that means for the next generation.’ These machines are a source of inspiration, allowing us to look to the past so we can imagine the future.

Imagining the future

Often called the final frontier, it is no wonder that space and interplanetary travel also captivated Mr. Allen. He invested in making space more accessible and pursued innovation through initiatives like SpaceShipOne, the Allen Telescope Array and Stratolaunch, an airplane with the world's largest wingspan. He also assembled a trove of important astronomical objects.

Mr. Allen collected the work of Chesley Bonestell, the American painter known as the ‘father of modern space art.’ Decades before man would walk on the moon, Bonestell was creating photorealistic scenes of outer space. ‘Artists like Bonestell were driven to show planetary bodies from a defined visual angle,’ says Thakkar. ‘Before, planets had been depicted from ungrounded perspectives. With Bonestell, he introduced a human point of view and opened up human imagination to the experience of space travel.’

The artist’s 1952 painting Saturn Viewed from Titan shows the ringed planet as seen from its largest moon, Titan. Bonestell had been painting astronomical scenes since 1905 when he first saw Saturn through a telescope at the Lick Observatory in San Jose. His style evolved over time into more elaborate, immersive scenes, influenced by his work as a set designer in Hollywood and his training as an architect.

While paintings like Saturn Viewed from Titan were fantasy, Bonestell’s imagined scenes influenced the iconography of real-life space travel, including the designs for the American space program.

The spacesuit cover-layer offered in the upcoming sale series is an emblem of the space age. It is an early Gemini Program model made for the astronaut Edward White, who would become the first American to conduct a spacewalk on 3 June 1965, during the Gemini 4 mission.

As a garment, it necessitated a unique blend of features: it had to function while pressurized, be resistant to extreme heat and micrometeoroids and be manoeuvrable in the cramped confines of the Gemini spacecraft. This suit was worn by Ed White in his official NASA portrait and during Gemini training.

The atomic era, the first men in space, the dawn of the computer age: each of these moments in the history of science showed the power of technology to profoundly shape contemporary life. Mr. Allen hand selected objects that capture technological advancement in all its complexity, both the benefits and the dangers. He believed in the power of technology as a force for good, and his collection invites us to consider the impact of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century and to imagine what might come next. ‘In my own work, I’ve tried to anticipate what’s coming over the horizon, to hasten its arrival, and to apply it to people’s lives in a meaningful way,’ said Mr. Allen. This collection honours the visionaries who have come before and offers inspiration to the next generation of innovators.

Gen One: Innovations from the Paul G. Allen Collection will be on view at Christie’s Rockefeller Center 5–9 September. The live sale, Pushing Boundaries: Ingenuity from The Paul G. Allen Collection, takes place on 10 September. The two online sales, Firsts: The History of Computing from The Paul G. Allen Collection and Over the Horizon: Art of the Future from The Paul G. Allen Collection, will be open for bidding through 12 September.