The (Red) Auction at Sotheby's
Nets over $40 million for AIDS in Africa

Feb 19 | archive | subscribe

At a Valentine's Day charity auction spearheaded by rocker Bono contemporary art collectors shelled out $42.6 million to benefit the fight against AIDS in Africa. Some of the world’s leading artists donated their works to the cause, like Jeff Koons, Jasper Johns, Matthew Barney, Richard Prince and Takashi Murakami.

The (Red) Auction at Sotheby's was among the biggest single charity events in history. Proceeds from the sale were earmarked for the United Nations' Global Fund's fight against AIDS in Africa in conjunction with Bono's "Red" brand, where products from major corporations including Apple, the Gap, Microsoft and Hallmark have generated $58 million for AIDS.

"This was a really historic night," said Bono, "I'm really very, very moved." Bidding -- some of it by telephone -- was aggressive at all levels with works soaring to two, three and even 10 times their estimates.

"This is incredible! Art and love, sex and money came together tonight to make this Valentine's Day one that we at (RED) will never forget,” Added Bono. “Because tonight we got serious about love, and not just the love of art, but the love of our brothers and sisters suffering from AIDS in the poorest places on the planet. What's the price of saving a life? Forty cents a day can buy the two little pills that keep people with HIV/AIDS alive. So you do the math ... A $100,000 sculpture... a $1.5 million painting... that's a lot of medicine for a lot of people in Africa who can't afford the drugs

Among those gathered for the bidding were rap impresario Russel Simmons, TV host and publishing mogul Martha Stewart, Jordan's Queen Noor, rocker Michael Stipe, Christy Turlington, Ed Burns, and former tennis star John McEnroe.