Pitt Drops $1M for Painting

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 9, 2009 6:13 PM CDT
Pitt Drops $1M for Painting
Brad Pitt looks at the art work "end of knowledge" by US artist Jim Hodges. He bought a different one.   (AP Photo/Keystone, Georgios Kefalas)

Brad Pitt played the role of big-time art collector today at the Art Basel fair in Switzerland. Pitt spent about $1 million on a 9-foot painting by Neo Rauch, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 1998 racetrack painting, Etappe, "depicts a swirling view of a driver behind a red, Formula One-style racecar, with workers nearby carrying candy-colored hoses," writes Kelly Crow. It's an oil-on-linen. Click on the link to see a photo of it.

Pitt reportedly hemmed and hawed in front of the painting for several minutes before returning with prominent Los Angeles collectors Eli and Edythe Broad. A little peer pressure apparently worked, notes Crow. "I told him we had four Rauchs and if he didn’t buy it, we probably would," said one of the Broads.
(More Brad Pitt stories.)

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