Nvidia Chief’s Leather Jacket Smashes Estimates at Sotheby’s

Artnet Bulletin Nvidia Chief’s Leather Jacket Smashes Estimates at Sotheby’s—and Other Art World Matters Also in today's Artnet Bulletin: Bernard Arnault is under the microscope, Tilman Fertitta's yacht draws protesters in Venice, and more. Also in today's Artnet Bulletin: Bernard Arnault is under the microscope, Tilman Fertitta's yacht draws protesters in Venice, and more. Margaret Carrigan ShareShare This Article The Artnet Bulletin is our new daily digest of five items from around the art world that are worth knowing. A different writer will do it every morning. This is Margaret, and today I’m looking at what some of the art world’s biggest billionaires are up to and lusting after a new Surrealist tome. Jensen Huang‘s leather jacket sold at Sotheby’s on July 17 for a whopping $960,000—more than 15 times its high estimate of $60,000. Who knew the Nvidia CEO’s signature look was so coveted? The bigger question: What exactly is the Edge Institute, the nonprofit benefitting from the sale? The auction house describes it as a V.C.–founded philanthropic initiative that gathers tech, science, culture, and society types together in “pop-up” communities to run “experiments” toward a “brighter future where humans flourish.” Color me intrigued, if not a little scared. An exhaustive profile of Bernard Arnault in Le Monde that casts the luxury magnate and art collector as both miserly king and wounded patriarch, surrounded by sycophants and warring family factions. From accounts that he used to book two seats on the Concorde to avoid sitting next to anyone, to rumors that he makes his friends rent his tennis courts, it’s clear he’s not much of a sharer. Transcripts released Friday from a June congressional hearing show billionaire art collector Leon Black denying he was friends with Jeffrey Epstein, despite his inscription in the late sex offender’s birthday book. “I didn’t consider him my best friend or a dear friend,” Black said. When the committee’s attorney pressed, “So do you sign birthday letters to all your business associates with love and kisses, dear friend?” Black answered, “Sometimes.” He’s due to hand over his NDAs to the House Oversight Committee this week with another interview set for September 3. About 300 protesters clashed with riot police in La Serenissima as noted art collector Tilman Fertitta‘s $450 million superyacht, Boardwalk, docked during the city’s Redentore festival. A Trump ally and the current U.S. ambassador to Italy, he is touring the country’s shoreline this summer on a self-styled “coastal diplomacy” tour. Demonstrators greeted him by waving “Venice is not for sale” signs and hurling pool toys at police. I don’t need much convincing on the prowess of Dorothea Tanning, but I will happily indulge in Dorothea Tanning: A Surrealist World, which upends the male-dominated narrative of Surrealism by positioning the artist as central to the movement’s postwar expansion. Author Alyce Mahon—the curator behind the acclaimed 2018–19 Tanning survey that graced Madrid’s Reina Sofía and Tate Modern in London—charts the development of the artist’s singular style over her remarkable seven-decade career. A fete at London’s Alison Jacques on Thursday marks its launch. See you tomorrow, when my colleague Ben Davis will be taking the wheel.