Someone has a new presidential addition to his or her art collection and paid $16,000 for it: a sketch of the Empire State Building by President Donald Trump.
Julien's Auctions reports that a portion of proceeds from the hand-drawn work, created in "black market" and signed by Trump (before he was president), will be donated to National Public Radio. It was an item in the auction house's biannual "Street, Contemporary & Celebrity Art" event.
"The illustration was reportedly donated by Trump to a fund-raiser auction in the early 1990s as part of the ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump enjoyed a residence at what is now the Mar-A-Lago club," according to information posted in the online auction brochure. "During this time the Empire State Building occupied a great deal of Trump’s attention as he was attempting a takeover of the iconic New York City landmark and eventually brokered a deal for the sale of the building."
The item was "acquired from a Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. estate" and had been anticipated to fetch betwee $8,000 and $12,000. Here it is:
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