Chalk artwork sold for record price at a New York Sotheby’s auction with proceeds going to the Panthera charity
Chalk artwork sold for record price at a New York Sotheby’s auction with proceeds going to the Panthera charity
A tiny chalk drawing of a lion by Rembrandt recently sold for the record-setting price of $18m in New York City to benefit the conservation of big cats.
After selling at a Sotheby’s auction Wednesday, Young Lion Resting shattered the previous mark for the most expensive drawing by the 17th-century Dutch painter ever auctioned: the $3.7m Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo.
Young Lion Resting’s sellers Thomas Kaplan – the billionaire US philanthropist – and his associate Jon Ayers said they were dedicating the proceeds generated by the auction to their prominent wildcat conservation charity, Panthera.
“Wildlife conservation is the one passion I have which surpasses Rembrandt – and I want to attract more people to that cause,” said a pre-auction statement from Kaplan, who along with his wife, Daphne, entered the year owning 17 paintings by the baroque artist.
