SimplyBrad.com
Brad Pitt Buys Big at Basel
Actor Brad Pitt briefly sent camera phones on fire earlier today at the Art Basel art fair in Basel, Switzerland, when he lingered before Neo Rauch’s rainbow-colored racetrack painting, “Etappe,” at the booth of New York dealer David Zwirner.
The 1998 painting depicts a swirling view of a driver behind a red, Formula One-style racecar, with workers nearby carrying candy-colored hoses.
After eyeing the 9-foot-wide work for several minutes, Pitt rubbed his goatee, fiddled with his tweed driving cap, and walked away. Zwirner, looking slightly anxious, said, “He’s on the fence. Nothing wrong with that, I guess.”
Pitt returned minutes later with Eli and Edy the Broad, the major Los Angeles collectors. Pitt and Broad conferred and then the group left.
Broad, hours later, says he gave the actor a friendly nudge. “I told him we had four Rauchs and if he didn’t buy it, we probably would.”
The peer pressure worked: Pitt soon after agreed to buy the oil on linen Rauch for just under $1 million, the gallery confirmed. Source. Thanks Gabriella.
• x01 Art Fair – Basel, Switzerland (06/09/09).
Jolie-Pitt Wheels
When Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie left Namibia with their newborn baby three years ago, they left behind a legacy.
Today, in Ondangwa, their generosity will see 73 bicycles specially designed for rough terrain donated to school children.
After Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was born to much media attention on May 27 2006 in Swakopmund, her famous parents donated N500000 (R500000) to the Michelle McLean Children’s Trust.
The charity, run by the Namibian-born beauty since she won Miss Universe in 1992, managed 10 projects with the Jolie- Pitt donation. “The money was a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the first picture of Shiloh with her parents,” said McLean.
The bicycle handover is the second consignment of two- wheelers.
The Jolie-Pitt donation was also used to train pre-primary teachers to prepare children for grade 1, equipping children with financial skills, running a basic first-aid development programme for teachers and care- givers at pre-primary schools, and donating food and clothes to the San people in the Tsumeb region. Source. Thanks Gabriella.
