Damien Hirst’s Leonardo DiCaprio portrait sells for more than $1 million
On May 25th, at the amfAR Gala in Cannes, Damien Hirst‘s painting of actor Leonardo DiCaprio sold for $1.2 million.
The gloss-on-canvas piece, part of Hirst’s Spin Painting series, was created back in 2016 and donated to the gala by collector Christian Levett, who reported on Instagram that he had acquired the painting at a party hosted by DiCaprio himself.
Signed by both the actor and the artist, the piece was part of a charity auction in order to raise money for Aids research. Along with DiCaprio himself, accompanied by his mother Irmelin Indenbirken, other attendees at the event include the model Heidi Klum, actors Eva Longoria and Kate Beckinsale, and Gladys Knight, who performed.
Speaking on his donation, Levett said online: “Happy to donate one of my Damien Hirst’s last night to raise money at the Amfar charity dinner. Donating it back in fact, as I bought it at Leonardo DiCaprio’s party in St Tropez in 2016.” The ‘Spin Painting’ series, which involves using a spinning platform to paint the work, also includes a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth.
The selling of the Di Caprio painting isn’t the first time Hirst has used his work to promote a good cause. In 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Hirst created ‘Butterfly Rainbow’ in a bid to support the National Health Service. The art was made downloadable on the artist’s website, with the aim being that people would print it off and show it in their windows as a gesture of solidarity and support.
