On one occasion, British artist Damien Hirst said that the creation of art is like looting bank. If that is so, then can be considered as Robin Hood in the art world, as his most ambitious, but also the most expensive artwork has been donated to charity, according to “Daily Mail“. His work, 10,000 year old woolly mammoth skeleton gilded in 24-carat gold leaf, entitled ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’ encased in a gold tank has been sold for an eye-watering £8.9 million ($15 million).
The buyer is Leonard Blavatnik, owner of the company “Warner Music”, was born in the Ukraine, and the fourth on the list of the richest people in Britain. He admitted that he “does not know” what to do with three-foot-tall work of art, but the “Daily Mail” said that it is a very nice fit in the space in his 13-room mansion in Kensington, worth £200 million.
After buying gilded woolly mammoth, Blavatnik, whose wealth is estimated at £10 billion, has become one of the few people in the world who have such an important part of the history of nature in his private collection.
The richest artist in the world, whose bogatvo estimated at more than £200 million, bought a woolly mammoth skeleton last year, but vowed not to reveal the name of collector.
Hurst and his team have put great effort in order to split up the skeleton into its constituent parts, and then with brushes light as a feather carefully inflicted gold leaf as thin as a sheet of paper on every bone. Only then the skeletown was reassembled.
The one-of-a kind piece went under the hammer on Friday at charity auction in Cannes, attended by Leonardo DiCaprio, Kylie Minogue, Dita von Teese, Ejdrijen Brody, Paris Hilton and Catherine Deneuve among others. The funds raised in the auction are intended organization for the fight against AIDS “amfAR”. Past auction items have included a trip to space with Leonardo DiCaprio which fetched £567,000 ($955,000), and an Andy Warhol print of Marilyn Monroe which sold for £283,000 ($476,500), and a kiss from George Clooney.
The 24-year-old model and young actress Katie Kite has been seen at the auction. She has been quietly seeing Hirst for months after meeting him through movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who predicts her brilliant acting career.
