Billionaire Buys $1 Million Picasso Sketch at Leonardo DiCaprio Gala

Well-known arts patron Leonardo DiCaprio recently held a fundraiser and auction at the chic Mediterranean city of Saint-Tropez to support his eponymous foundation, which works to protect the environment and endangered species. With a bevy of billionaire art buyers on hand and celebrity guests including Jared Leto, Marion Cotillard, Bono, Cara Delevingne, and Julian Lennon, as well as an auction by artnet News columnist and auction world guru Simon de Pury, the event managed to raise approximately $25 million for DiCaprio’s foundation. Nice going for one night.

While Bono reportedly auctioned off one of his own guitars and DiCaprio parted with a motorcycle that bore the signatures of Robert De Niro and The Departed director Martin Scorsese, one of the most interesting sales of the night was undoubtedly a Pablo Picasso drawing purchased by South African mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe, who paid a cool $1 million for the piece, according to Forbes. A Damien Hirst sculpture was also sold for $6 million to Russian billionaire Len Blavatnik. Two walk-on roles in an upcoming DiCaprio flick were sold for $2.4 million, but the buyers currently remain anonymous.

[h/t Art Market Monitor]