A court-ordered sale of artworks attributed to Michael Jackson—originally planned for August 3 at King’s Auctions in Las Vegas and then abruptly halted at the last minute, when a party associated with the owner of the property suddenly declared bankruptcy… is back on. The auction is now scheduled for Saturday, October 5.
The controversial drawings have been running the fan community crazy for months. The Estate got involved contesting the authenticity of the artwork, the auction house said they are real, and the fans are divided on the subject.
Well, the mess continues.
The reset auction date happened after a judge in California Central Bankruptcy Court dismissed the attempted Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing by the Jackson-Strong Alliance LLC. The alliance, which is overseen by Sir Brett-Livingstone Strong, an artist and former friend of Michael Jackson, who was ordered to sell the artworks—120 pieces described as “museum collection” artworks according to the bankruptcy filing—to satisfy a $3.25 million debt owed to Dallas-based firm Vinson Investments.
The sale will include a collection of 76 signed artworks, 26 of them double-sided. Each artwork also comes with a certificate of authenticity from autograph specialist Roger Epperson.
A representative for King’s told me: “We are offering a 100 percent lifetime money back guarantee on authenticity, per Roger Epperson.”
The structure of the auction is slightly unusual in that bidding on the first lot—which has the potential to supersede the entire sale—starts at $1 million. However, it must reach a “fair value” or undisclosed minimum. King’s described this important level as a “blind reserve,” meaning it starts at $1 million and proceeds upwards until a satisfactory bid is reached.
For the entire collection, the presale estimate is approximately $12 million to $30 million. The King’s auction house representative said the house hopes to sell to an investor or investment group with plans to ultimately exhibit the collection publicly.
If the material does not sell in one single action, then bidding on all remaining lots, described as lot 2 to lot 100, will start at around $10,000 each.
Further, Kings revealed that it will offer an art preview in Beverly Hills. The auction house spokesperson told me that the event will be “celebrity sponsored and buyers of interest must sign up with Kings-Auctions RSVP as it will be star-studded and the first time this collection with be available for in-person viewing.”
If you like to take a risk, here the Kings auctions website.
