playboy mansion

Playboy Art Sale Brings In $2.9 Million

The sale of part of Playboy's substantial art archive took place Wednesday night at Christie's New York on December 8 in an auction titled "The Year of the Rabbit." The 125-piece offering including Dali watercolor of a reclining nude that hung in Hugh Hefner's bedroom as well as 80 photographs, many of which appeared in the magazine and more than a dozen contemporary works and 24 cartoons.

The expected top lot was an oil painting of of a scarlet-lipstick mouth by pop artist Tom Wesselmann. "Mouth No. 8" sold for nearly $1.9 million against estimates of $2 million to $3 million. The Dali watercolor sold for more than $266,000 beating estimates of $100,000 to $150,000. The sale brought in a total of $2,903,437 (including buyer's premium). Herb Ritts photographs of Stephanie Seymour, Cindy Crawford and Elle MacPherson also sold well. A Herb Davidson portrait of Hef himself sold for $6,000 against the estimate of $5,000 - $7,000.

This is the second time Christie's has sold items from Playboy. Playboy celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2003 with an auction of memorabilia and ephemera from Playboy's collection. The art represents just a small amount of the Playboy Art Collection which has an archive of 5,000 contemporary artworks and more than 20 million photographs.

Tags: herb ritts, hugh hefner playboy activist and rebel, playboy, Playboy Magazine, playboy mansion, Salvador Dal, tom wesselmann

Hugh Hefner Sells At A Deep Discount

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

I mentioned briefly before that Hugh Hefner and his wife Kimberley sold her house next to the Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, California but I neglected to mention the fact that is sold for $10 million below the list price of $27.995 million. The LA Times Hot Property column reported that the home, which hit the market in March, sold for $18 million. The 7,300-square-foot English Manor-style house was built in 1929 and has five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The home is behind private gates on 2.3 flat acres that back up to the Los Angeles Country Club and the grounds include a swimming pool.

The Hefners bought the home in 1996 for Kimberley Hefner to live in with their two sons. It was then listed then at $17.25 million so if Hefner bought anywhere close to list price back then he isn't making too much on this deal. But the aging magazine tycoon's lavish lifestyle has been straining the budget of the Playboy empire and so the sale might have been a matter of some urgency.

[Thanks, Charles! via Listed]

Gallery: Hugh Hefner in Holmby Hills

Tags: holmby hills, HolmbyHills, hugh hefner, HughHefner, playboy, playboy mansion, PlayboyMansion

Camacho Cigars to be Featured at Playboy ESPY Party

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

If you're heading to the ESPY Awards pre-party at the Playboy Mansion tomorrow night, be ready to clip and light a Camacho. The cigar company has been selected as the official cigar of the event. So, while you're hobnobbing with the wealthy and beautiful – athletes and other celebrities will be there – pick up a Camacho Select, Triple Maduro (a great, full-bodied smoke), Diploma or 10th Anniversary.

"Camacho Cigars is proud to be a part of the pre-ESPY festivities," said Dylan Austin, marketing director of Camacho Cigars. "The Playboy Mansion is an iconic location that every man dreams of visiting at least once in his life. This only adds to our excitement in being involved in this illustrious event."

The night will include dancing, entertainment, a few poker games and just about everything else you'd expect from a party at the Playboy Mansion. If there's a better way to smoke a Camacho, my imagination can't come up with it.

Tags: award, award show, award shows, awards, awards show, awards shows, AwardShow, AwardShows, AwardsShow, AwardsShows, camacho, camachoselect, cigar, cigars, espn, espy, espyawards, espys, playboy, playboy magazine, playboy mansion, PlayboyMagazine, PlayboyMansion