Actor Leonardo DiCaprio presided over Christie’s special auction to raise money for his efforts in saving the environment. The auction, which included pieces made just for the event, raised $33 million for the cause.
The 11th Hour Auction was announced last week and featured 33 pieces by modern artists. Proceeds went to the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which the Great Gatsby actor set up to raise awareness for the environment and to help save it.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, DiCaprio wasn’t the only celebrity to attend the auction. Tobey Maguire, Bradley Cooper, Salma Hayek and Mark Ruffalo also showed. Maguire, who also stars in Gatsby, won Sergej Jensen's Untitled for $262,500, the highest price ever paid for one of Jensen’s works.
The Daily Beast reports that DiCaprio himself solicited many of the pieces and told the bidders "I urge all of you to bid as if the fate of the planet depends on us,” which many did. Untitled (Standard Lotus No. II, Bird of Paradise, Tiger Mouth Face) by Mark Grotjahn was only expected to go as high as $2.5 million, but after an intense bidding war, it went for $6.5 million.
While Art Market Monitor first reported that the auction totaled $35 million, that was later adjusted to $33.3 million. However, it was still much higher than the expected $18 million that organizers were hoping for.