The 10 Coolest Things Oprah Gave Away For Her Charity Auction
Nov 5, 2013
Just as Oprah's Book Club got the country reading, Oprah's recent yard sale got the country bidding.
"The Oprah Winfrey Collection" auction, held at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club last Saturday, gave everyone a chance to experience her art, furniture, antiques and memorabilia. From folk art to the ornate, there were 55 lots of Winfrey offering.
The sale, held by Kaminski Auctions, raised close to $600,000 for the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation College Fund and helped Winfrey in her own mission to "de-clutter."
"It's just too much stuff," the Forbes Celebrity 100 billionaire told Entertainment Tonight...I am downsizing." Among the 55 lots, there were some great deals, some passes, and some clues into Winfrey's life at home:
Banksy's Thrift Shop Painting Sells For More Than $600,000 At Charity Auction
Nov 1, 2013
A Banksy-doctored painting sold at an online auction yesterday for $615,000.
It was dropped off at a Housing Works thrift shop near Gramercy Park in New York City on Tuesday morning. The woman who dropped it off said that the painting was of value and that someone would be contacting them shortly, according to the Housing Works organization. So much for an ordinary transaction.
The simple oil painting, titled “The Banality Of The Banality of Evil,” was stripped of its human figure, and now has a Nazi figure painted on, plus the Banksy signature. It is featured on the artist’s website which chronicles his month-long street-art spree all over New York. The original painting was purchased two months ago from the very same thrift shop.
(For full story, see link below)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lynndouglass/2013/11/01/banksys-thrift-shop-painting-sells-for-more-than-600000-at-charity-auction/
5/4/15
Rare Letters By Jackie Kennedy, Sigmund Freud and Ernest Hemingway Are Up For Sale
Dec 19, 2013
Today, a rare collection of 300 important historical manuscripts go on the block both live and online, at the auction house Profiles in History in Calabasas, California. Today’s sale called “The Property Of A Distinguished American Private Collector Part III,” is the third sale of museum-worthy letters and manuscripts. The event gives the public access to a little piece of their very own history; Joseph Maddalena, president of the auction house, states in the sale catalog: “I have decided to pursue auction as the best way to bring wonderful materials on a regular basis to market…”
The first sale of 300 lots last December fetched almost $6 million and the second auction, of 250 letters, about $3 million last April. “We’re not saving the best for last,” said Marsha Malinowski, president of of Marsha Malinowski Fine Books and Manuscripts, “We tried to create a balance.”
The balancing act includes letters from Charles Darwin, William Shakespeare, Malcolm X, Catherine the Great and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, to name a few.
(For full story, see link below)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lynndouglass/2013/12/19/rare-letters-by-jackie-kennedy-sigmund-freud-and-ernest-hemingway-are-up-for-sale/