Art World
A Cheeky Bidding War Broke Out Between Kim Kardashian and Tom Brady Over a $2 Million George Condo Artwork. Ultimately, They Both Got Lucky
A work by Rashid Johnson also raked in $1.1 million at the charity art auction.
A work by Rashid Johnson also raked in $1.1 million at the charity art auction.
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They didn’t have to split the baby in half.
Kim Kardashian and Tom Brady duked it out at a charity art auction in Atlantic City over the weekend, competing for who would take home an original George Condo artwork.
The reality star kicked off the bidding for Standing Female Figure (2023) at $500,000, according to the auction’s organizers. The former NFL quarterback then countered, and eventually the celebs found themselves in a friendly tug-of-war over the drawing, which includes a depiction of the type of asset, if you will, for which Kardashian is known.
Brady eventually outbid Kardashian with an offer of $2 million. However, when the artist was contacted, he agreed to create a second, matching work for Kardashian, for another charitable gift of $2 million. That sounds like a deal, if not a steal, considering the record for a Condo work is nearly $7 million, set in 2020 at Christie’s Hong Kong for Force Field (2010).
Kardashian is no doubt familiar with Condo’s work—he painted multiple cover designs for her ex-husband Kanye West’s album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. He and West met up at the artist’s New York studio in 2010 and listened to the album, after which Condo created nine paintings to be used as cover art.
Artist Rashid Johnson also donated a work, Fireflies, to the charity auction on Saturday, which the wine entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee) won with the high bid of $1.1 million. The three works helped garner $5.1 million of the total $24 million raised to benefit Reform Alliance, a group that advocates for criminal-justice reform. The organization works to reduce the number of people in the U.S. who are incarcerated and create positive pathways forward for the nearly four million people on probation or parole.
The comedian Kevin Hart emceed the black-tie festivities, which were hosted by Reform co-chairs Michael Rubin, Meek Mill, and founding partner Jay-Z. Other notable attendees included Travis Scott, Matthew McConaughey, Jack Harlow, Tiffany Haddish, and Alex Rodriguez.