‘Hallelujah’ singer’s love letters auctioned for $1.3 million

Leaonard Cohen in London June 1974. Source: Getty

A collection of 50 love letters from ‘Hallelujah’ singer, Leonard Cohen, to his lover, Marianne Ihlen, have sold for US$876,000 (AU$1.27 million).

According to Happy Mag, the auction prices went far beyond the pre-sale estimates.

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A single letter from December 1960 was tipped to sell for around US$7,000, but instead reached a whopping $56,250.

Another letter from 1964 sold for an insane $35,000.

Auction house, Christie’s, described the love letters as “fascinating glimpses of the young poet’s yearnings and artistic struggles,”.

“They contain numerous lines and passages that sound like early drafts of songs, with each one giving new context, new understanding, to his oeuvre,” they said.

A documentary on Cohen and Ihlen’s romance began in Greece during 1960, and a documentary on their romance, titled Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love, directed by Nick Broomfield, will be released next month at the Sundance Film Festival.

Norwegian expatriate Marianne Jensen (also known as Ihlen) (left) holds her son, Axel Jensen Jr, on her lap as friends watch, Hydra, Greece, October 1960. Leonard Cohen sits next to her. Source: Getty

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