Late Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen once said,  "When you look at a painting, you are looking into a different country, into someone else's imagination — how they saw it."

The billionaire assembled a wide-ranging collection of art to encompass works of iconic artists in the 500 years of Western art history, including Jan Brueghel the Younger, J.M.W. Turner, Edouard Manet and Vincent van Gogh, whose pioneering endeavors ushered Western art into new stages throughout centuries. Since the 1990s, he had lent his assemblies to museums around the world, in anonymity.

More than 150 works from this assemblage will go under the hammer in two separate auctions by Christie's in early November, in New York. All proceeds will go towards charity purposes. Highlights from the collection have previously toured cities worldwide for display, including Hong Kong and Shanghai.