Thaindian News

By Meena Kar
Nov 9, (THAINDIAN NEWS) All the “Playboy” fans, who are bored of seeing the same contemporary airbrushed and artificially titillating pictures in the famous magazine, will now be offered with something more unique and aesthetic. The magazine is all set to auction some of its celebrated pictures and paintings, which they have been considering as an asset over years. The auction is supposed to take place at Christie’s on December 8.

The “Playboy” which has been a symbol with sensuality through art and portrayal of women, will auction 125 artworks. The sale would feature 80 photographs, more than twelve contemporary works and 24 cartoons, will consist of some of the best collections from the “playboy” archives. However, of all things, the few most significant works that might take the lion’s share of the auctions are 1953 debut cover of Marilyn Monroe, a Herb Ritts photo of Ellie Macpherson, an early 1960s shot of Brigitte Bardot, portraits of Duke Ellington and Dennis Hopper. Yet the the founder and editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner believes that the best two collections would be a carlet-lipstick mouth by pop artist Tom Wesselmann and a water color painting of a reclining nude lady by Salvador Dali. Now that definitely comes as a surprise as no one can deny the aestheticism and sensuality that the late artist unleashed through his paintings. Even after eleven years of his expiry, the Spanish painter is still remembered for his exclusive work.

Hugh Hefner said that his magazine had a major contribution in the field of arts as it dissolved the barriers between fine and commercial arts. It was they, who changed the notion of the term by artistically commercializing everything from abstract to semi-abstract to stuff that you found on a gallery wall. “Playboy’s” archives have over 5,000 contemporary artworks and more than 20 million photographs, only some of which will be auctioned.