During the 11th Hour charity auction benefiting the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s environmental and wildlife conservation efforts, Christie’s sold artwork worth $35 million.
‘The Great Gatsby’ actor teamed up with the famous auction house to benefit “the most important environmental charity event ever staged,” according to Christie’s executive Brett Gorvy.
Attending the high profile event were Bradley Cooper, Mark Ruffalo and Salma Hayek. His pal Tobey Maguire plunked down $262,000 for an untitled work by artist Sergej Jensen.
Thirty-three works were on the auction block, including one donated by DiCaprio. Organizers aimed to raise $18 million and ended up nearly doubling their goal.
The money raised will be earmarked for conservation projects, selected by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, that protect key ocean and land based ecosystems as well as to engage local communities to protect their natural resources.
DeCaprio stated, “Despite the great efforts by organizations all over the world, our planet is in trouble. The modern world is placing enormous pressure on the very natural systems that sustain us; we are destroying our forests, polluting the air and water, overfishing our oceans and facing overwhelming extinction rates of plants and animals. Nature is abundant and it is resilient, but we have to take action now to protect our planet before it’s too late.”
Photo: WENN
