Michael Crichton, bestselling author of such techno-thrillers and adventure fiction JURASSIC PARK, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN and THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY and creator of the TV series ER, was also an avid collector of fine art.  Four paintings from his collection, all created sometime in the 1960s and worth approx. $30-35 million, will be on display in Britain this week before they go under Christie’s hammer this May.

The paintings being sold by his estate include Femme et Fillettes by Pablo Picasso, Studio Painting (Combine) by Robert Rauschenberg, and Girl in Water by Roy Lichtenstein. Also being displayed for the first time in public in about 2 decades will be a Flag painting created in encaustic by Jasper Johns sometime in the early ’60s, a work that was originally critically panned, including by critic Robert Rosenblum, who wondered if it was ”disrepectful” and “simple-minded” among other things, but which became a pop-art icon, paving the way for such artists as Warhol and Lichtenstein.  The poor reviews didn’t stop  Crichton from falling in love with it, though, and he bought directly from the artist.

Crichton had said at one time  ”the act of painting a flag at this time  seemed to many observers an absurdity: an American flag might be many things, but it was certainly not art. Yet Johns presented a carefully worked, elegantly executed painting.”   He enjoyed Johns’ work so much, he wrote the catalog for Johns’ 1977 exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York – it gave him the opportunity to pick the reclusive Johns’ brain regarding art and his contributions to it. (Crichton wasn’t the only one who loves Johns’ work:  to date, the record for a privately bought Johns painting is approx $80 million for False Start while a Johns painting  was auctioned off for a record $17.4 million.)

The Crichton paintings will be on display in the UK through February 12th and then will be auctioned off by Christie’s New York May 11th with proceeds benefiting his estate.

In 2006, Crichton became a member of the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In November 2008, he passed away from cancer suddenly at the age of 66.