Coloring Book, a monumental sculpture by renowned American artist Jeff Koons, will be up for auction at amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS Gala on May 21, during the Cannes International Film Festival. This significant piece has been on display twice: in the courtyard of the Royal Academy of Arts in London during the summer of 2011 and at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills in 2012. Another edition of Coloring Book belonging to LVMH was one of just three sculptures included in “Jeff Koons on the Roof” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2008.  Of the two other pieces from this exhibit, Balloon Dog recently sold at auction for $58 million, making it the most expensive artwork by a living artist ever sold.  It is likely that Coloring Book, which has never seen an auction, is the most valuable artwork ever to be auctioned off for charitable purposes. 

Coloring Book, a high chromium stainless steel piece with transparent color coating, will be on display at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc during amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS Gala and will be part of the evening’s much anticipated live auction.

Simon de Pury, who will conduct the auction of Coloring Book, comments, “Jeff Koons is the star of this year's amfAR gala auction which includes one of his seminal sculptures.  This particular work, which the artist has described as a representation of contemporary art itself, has never been up for auction before. Coming on the heels of the artist's highly successful retrospective that took place at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York and at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and joined in the auction by important works by Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero, Alexander Calder and Marc Quinn this year's gala further raises the bar.

Coloring Book is part of Koons’ Celebration series, which is made up of sculptures and paintings depicting toys and childhood themes blown up to fantastic proportions. LVMH owns one of the editions.

Proceeds from the sale of Coloring Book will benefit amfAR’s work in the fight against AIDS, as the Foundation ramps up its “Countdown to a Cure” research initiative, aimed at finding a broadly applicable cure for HIV by 2020. “Countdown to a Cure” is designed to intensify amfAR’s cure-focused HIV research program with plans to strategically invest $100 million in cure research over the next six years.

Last year’s amfAR Cannes auction featured acclaimed artist Damien Hirst’s spectacular Gone but not Forgotten, a three meter tall gilded skeleton of a woolly mammoth in a colossal steel and glass vitrine.

amfAR's annual Cinema Against AIDS events have been important and successful fundraising events for the Foundation for two decades, generating more than $140 million for essential AIDS research. The live auction is always a highlight of the annual star-studded gala, and has featured such headline- grabbing items as a trip to space with Leonardo DiCaprio, a kiss from George Clooney, and a private portrait sitting with Annie Liebowitz, as well as major artworks by legendary artists including Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Damien Hirst and Julien Schnabel.

As previously announced, this year’s Cinema Against AIDS gala will include musical performances by the Grammy Award-winning rock band Imagine Dragons, whose recent second studio album Smoke + Mirrors debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, the nine-time Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum selling singer, songwriter, actress, and philanthropist Mary J. Blige, and Grammy-nominated British pop sensation Charli XCX.

Global fashion icon and longtime amfAR supporter Carine Roitfeld will curate a black and white runway show to be presented at the gala, featuring looks created by the world’s top designers and worn by a cast of the most well-known models in the industry. Chairs of the gala will include Isabella Rossellini, Jake Gyllenhaal, Diane Kruger, Frances McDormand, Aishwarya Rai, Carine Roitfeld, Harvey Weinstein, amfAR Chairman Kenneth Cole, amfAR Global Fundraising Ambassador, Milutin Gatsby, Michel Litvak, and Vincent Roberti, among others.

Cinema Against AIDS 22 is presented by Harry Winston and Bold Films. The Weinstein Company is a signature sponsor and Moet Hennessy is the wine and spirits partner.

Like the epidemic itself, AIDS research knows no borders. amfAR’s programs have had a global reach since 1986, when the Foundation began awarding international grants. Today, amfAR continues to fund HIV/AIDS researchers worldwide and works to translate their research into effective policy, prevention, and treatment education programs around the globe.

amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS event is produced by Andy Boose/AAB Productions.

Official Event Hashtag: #amfarcannes For more information, visit www.amfar.org

About amfAR

amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of HIV research, prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested more than $415 million in its programs and has awarded more than 3,300 grants to research teams worldwide.