Pierce’s art sells for €1.2m
A PAINTING by Pierce Brosnan of Bob Dylan has earned a fair few bob for charity – €1.2 million to be exact.
The canvas was auctioned off on Thursday night at the star-studded amfAR Gala in Cannes in aid of Aids research which was attended by a Who’s Who of Hollywood actors along with a string of supermodels and billionaires.
The substantial price tag also included a private lunch with the tuxedo-clad star who was on stage to sell off his colourful painting of the legendary singersongwriter at the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc.
The Navan star expressed his delight at the six-figure sum fetched by his artwork on his Facebook page.
‘I am so deeply proud, humbled and just plain old over the moon with the sale of this painting of mine that sold for 1.2 million euros at last nights auction at #AMFAR #hotelducap,’ he said alongside a smiling picture of him next to the painting on his Facebook page.
Although the actor is famous for movie roles, most notably his turn as 007, he originally began his career as an artist in London.
The Meath star still spends hours of his spare time as his easel in his homes in Malibu and Hawaii. Pierce noted in an Instagram post this week he was been ‘painting since 1987’. He added: ‘Time to show the work I guess! If not now when? Running out of storage!’
He reveals on his website that his vast collection of colourful canvases has been in the making for decades.
His artistic talent is still a relatively unknown side of the talented actor, but the Irish star occasionally sells his original artwork and donates reproductions of his artwork to help raise money for his favourite charities.
After Brosnan left school, he pursued a career in art and began working as an illustrator.
The actor, who was trained as a commercial artist, has painted numerous landscapes and abstracts as well as colourful portraits over the past 30 years.
‘I always wanted to be an artist. I started as a trainee artist in a small studio in South London,’ he said on his website
He cities his influences as Picasso, Matisse, Bonnard and Kandinsky, and now spends much of his free time between shoots in front of his easel.
‘I always wanted to be an artist’