A sculpture of a unicorn by the Turner Prize winning artist Damien Hirst has sold for a cool $6m, to art collector Len Blavatnik, at a charity auction in St Tropez. Golden Myth a painted bronze was the highest price lot sold to raise funds for Leonardo DiCaprio’s foundation which funds wildlife conservation efforts, around the globe. Other works of art sold included a $1 million Picasso drawing which went to the South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe.
The celeberty-studded gala auction was hosted and led by DiCaprio, the Oscar nominated actor who is also a committed environmentalist.
A guitar owned by U2’s Bono sold after a performance of Ben E. Cooke’s “Stand By Me” with Julien Lennon and personal items of DiCaprio’s, including a Harley motorbike, autographed by himself & Robert De Niro as well as Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese.
Leonardo opened the evening with an impassioned speech about the Foundation’s work and stated, “Today we stand at the 11th Hour – facing a tipping point of environmental crises unprecedented in human history. Not since the age of the dinosaurs have so many species of plants and animals become extinct in such a short period of time. We must now make an effort to protect the rich biodiversity that could allow nature to eventually recover. The good news is there are solutions to these massive problems. Efforts like tonight will start addressing them.”Guests attending the event, included Oscar winner Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne,Robin Thicke, Bono & Julian Lennon.Tickets were priced at between $7,000 and $130,000. The Gala – co-chaired by Philippe Cousteau and Jared Leto along with the presenting sponsor Julius Baer and co-sponsor Chopard. High point of the evening was Robin Thicke caught riding Hirst’s golden unicorn. Bet that was interesting!