The 11th Hour

Christie’s and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation are delighted with the outstanding results of the 11th Hour Auction, which totaled $38,827,000 million. The sale included 33 works by today’s most prominent artists, many of which were created specifically for this cause. 13 world auction records were attained and 9 works of art were sold for over one million dollars, with many lots realizing well over their pre-sale estimates. Highlights included Mark Grotjahn’s Untitled, which sold for $6.5million and Zeng Fanzhi’s The Tiger, which fetched $5million. An overwhelming part of the total raised will benefit environmental issues, which the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has worked on since 1998. The sale attracted attention from all over the world, with registrants from 32 countries. An anonymous collector contributed $5 million to match the prices realized for the three tiger paintings (Zeng Fanzhi, Robert Longo and Takashi Murakami), in order to protect tigers. The gifts of many other generous donors totaled $500,000, generating an overall amount of $38.8 million.

For 15 years the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, a component fund of the California Community Foundation, has been raising public awareness about critical environmental issues in order to protect our planet and create a sustainable future. Funds raised will benefit innovative conservation projects that will help guard the last wild places on earth, the endangered species that inhabit them, and the surrounding communities whose welfare depends upon them. Recipients will undergo a rigorous review process by the foundation and a panel of environmental leaders including Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Philippe Cousteau, Dr. Pamela Matson, Dr. Enric Sala Ted Waitt, Rick Ridgeway, Jorgen Thomsen, and Dr. William H. Schlesinger.