George Michael’s grand piano sells for £200k at auction

A piano once owned by George Michael has raised a staggering amount of cash for music charity Nordoff Robbins. The organisation held their annual star-studded auction during the 2022 Silver Clef Awards. One of the most talked about moments came when George’s prized Bechstein grand piano was on the lot, and went under the hammer for a brilliant £200,000. Before it was auctioned off, the piano was played by blind and autistic pianist Derek Paravicini, who performed Cowboys and Angels during the awards ceremony. The auction was virtual, which meant anyone around the world could bid on taking home a piece of music history. 

George Michael won his own Silver Clef prize in 1989 for his outstanding contribution to UK music. During that year’s event, George bid a large amount of money on a guitar, which he then re-donated to be auctioned off again the following year. 

The piano was provided by George’s Estate, who said they were proud to be able to continue his legacy with Nordoff Robbins. They explained in a statement:

“George supported many charitable and philanthropic causes during his lifetime which his Estate will continue to do in his memory. We hope that the return of the O2 Silver Clef lunch after a two-year absence will be a huge success and that the piano will raise a substantial amount of money to help continue this vital work after the toughest couple of years for the sector that most of us can remember.”

In total, the Silver Clef Awards raised £750,000 for Nordoff Robbins, meaning more money to help those most vulnerable with music therapy. 

George Michael’s personal piano to be auctioned for music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins

Nordoff Robbins, the UK’s largest music therapy charity, is delighted to announce that a piano personally owned by pop icon George Michael will be auctioned during its prestigious O2 Silver Clef Award ceremony on Friday 1st July. The live auction will be open to George Michael fans from across the world (join here https://theauctioncollective.com/auctions/george-michaels-piano/), as well as artists, celebrities and supporters attending the event.

Since the 1980s, George’s music, generosity and legacy has inspired people around the world. By auctioning this piano, it will help Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy to reach more people through the power of music, helping them to connect and communicate regardless of disability, illness or social exclusion.

The Bechstein Grand piano, which George fell in love with and bought, stood in his home in Highgate, London, for many years. It has been generously donated to Nordoff Robbins by George Michael’s Estate, and continues the global star’s renowned charitable legacy and his association with the music therapy charity that he supported throughout his career.

In 1989, when George Michael was just 27-years-old, he was honoured with Nordoff Robbins’ iconic Silver Clef Award for his outstanding contribution to UK music. When he picked up his award that year, during the charity auction his typical generosity saw him bid a substantial sum for a guitar – which he immediately gave straight back to be auctioned again the following year.

George Michael’s Estate said: “We are proud on behalf of George Michael to be able to continue his support of Nordoff Robbins.

George supported many charitable and philanthropic causes during his lifetime which his Estate will continue to do in his memory. We hope that the return of the O2 Silver Clef lunch after a two-year absence will be a huge success and that the piano will raise a substantial amount of money to help continue this vital work after the toughest couple of years for the sector that most of us can remember.”

The O2 Silver Clef Awards are held to recognise and celebrate the talent of the winning artists. Since 1976, through the power of music, the awards have raised over £11 million for Nordoff Robbins’ vital music therapy and honoured some of the greatest names in music, with the most recent event in 2019 raising a record-breaking £1m.

David Austin, who George Michael described as his ‘best friend’ and long-time collaborator, is creating a short film to showcase the piano, including shots of the iconic musician playing the piano in his Highgate home.

Talented pianist Derek Paravicini will give a very special performance of one of George’s most loved songs on the piano in the room before it is auctioned live by online specialists, The Auction Collective, during the O2 Silver Clef Award ceremony. Blind and autistic, Derek is pitch perfect and can play any piece of music after hearing it only once. The proceeds of the piano auction, along with other items being sold, will deliver a huge fundraising boost to Nordoff Robbins, enabling its trained music therapists to support some of the most vulnerable people in the UK.

Nordoff Robbins believes that everyone should have access to the value of music. Its music therapists use the power of music to connect with some of the most isolated people in our society – working with children and adults affected by life-limiting illness such as dementia, learning disabilities including autism, physical disability and mental health issues. Nordoff Robbins’ music therapists work with over 270 schools, hospitals, hospices and care homes, as well as providing sessions from its centres across the UK.

Sandra Schembri, CEO of Nordoff Robbins said: “We are extraordinarily grateful to George Michael’s Estate for donating such a wonderful instrument. George Michael’s legacy is huge – not only in terms of his contribution to music, but also his kindness and generosity when it comes to helping others. We were proud to honour George with our Silver Clef Award back in 1989 and he continued to support us throughout his career. This auction will be made extra special by Derek’s performance – ensuring that those in the room and across the world can hear George Michael’s beautiful music being played once again on his piano. Derek shows us how much music matters to connect everyone and help fulfil their human potential. We hope this year’s auction and ceremony will be our biggest fundraising event yet, as our work with vulnerable and isolated children and adults is needed now more than ever.”

George Michael’s private art collection raised more than £11 million for charity

The George Michael Collection sells for more than £11 million — including £9,264,000 in a memorable Evening Auction at Christie’s in London — with proceeds going to extend the singer’s extraordinary philanthropic legacy
After a world tour that saw highlights exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and a special multi-media exhibition in London that celebrated George Michael’s life, his music and the art he lived with, standout pieces from the singer’s collection sold for £9,264,000 in a dedicated evening sale at Christie’s King Street headquarters.

Bidders from 27 countries across five continents were registered in the Evening Auction, reflecting the global appeal of George Michael and the Young British Artists he collected. The online sale of works from The George Michael Collection, which closed on Friday 15 March, was just as successful, totalling an incredible £2,045,375.

The money raised from the sale of The George Michael Collection will extend the philanthropic legacy he built so generously and so privately during his lifetime.

The collection spoke volumes about George Michael, a man who touched millions with his music, his honesty, and his kindness. This was partly due to the autobiographical nature of so many of the works within it, but also because it revealed the extent to which he had supported his fellow British artists.

For the thousands of fans who flocked to the London exhibition, there was an added dimension: a precious opportunity for communion with their departed hero.

Watch the evening auction in full

The energy was palpable in a packed saleroom at King Street, and among the many bidding online, on the phones and via a live link from Christie’s New York saleroom. The competitive bidding and the fact that every single lot sold were a tribute to both George Michael’s eye for contemporary art and the depth of feeling for an artist whose songbook of classic tracks defined an era.

The top prices on the night were achieved for works by artists who George Michael knew and collected in depth, or for pieces that had particular resonance with the star who sold over 120 million records in a glittering 35-year career.

The sale was led by two iconic Damien Hirst formaldehyde works — The Incomplete Truth, which George Michael acquired in 2007, sold for £911,250 (including buyer’s premium), while Saint Sebastian, Exquisite Pain, the artist’s powerful re-staging of the image of the Christian martyr and gay icon, realised £875,250. Hirst’s The Immaculate Heart Sacred, executed in 2008, cruised past its high estimate before selling for £323,250.
Cecily Brown’s Untitled inspired multiple bids before being won at £791,250, while Bridget Riley’s Songbird (1982), the first major work George Michael acquired for the collection, realised the same price after another prolonged battle.

Of all the artists in the collection, Tracey Emin was perhaps the one who was closest to George Michael. He collected and cherished her work, owning standout pieces such as Hurricane, a 2007 acrylic on canvas, which realised £431,250 against a high estimate of £180,000 — a new auction record for the artist by medium; George Loves Kenny, the unique neon Emin created after travelling with the singer on tour, which drew a huge round of applause when it sold for £347,250; and Drunk to the Bottom of My Soul, an appliqué blanket from 2002, which was bought for £275,000.

In the build-up to the sale, Michael Craig-Martin, who taught many of the leading lights of the YBA generation at Goldsmiths, spoke about his relationship with George Michael and their discussions about ‘the problem of sustained creativity’.

Three large-scale Craig-Martin works all exceeded their high estimates. Untitled (SEX), Untitled (GOD) and Handcuffs all speak to the episode in 1998 when George Michael succeeded in turning one of his lowest moments into a personal triumph through a combination of humour, defiance and great music. The works sold for £125,000, £40,000 and £112,500 respectively, while the artist’s Commissioned Portrait Untitled (George), a totemic work in the collection, did even better by reaching £175,000 in the online sale.

World auction records were set in the live sale for Jim Lambie, whose Careless Whisper was a favourite with the crowds at the pre-sale exhibition and produced a flurry of bidding to make £175,000; for Angus Fairhurst, one of the original YBAs, whose bronze gorilla, titled A Couple of Differences Between Thinking and Feeling II, achieved £118,750 (more than double its high estimate); for Harland Miller’s Incurable Romantic Seeks Filthy Dirty Whore, which went for £237,500 after a spirited contest in the saleroom; and for James White with Relationships II, which sold for £22,500.

Harland Miller claimed a further distinction when his Death, What’s in it for Me? sold for £212,500 online, the top price in the sale.

In the live auction there were strong results, too, for works by Tim Noble & Sue Webster, led by Excessive Sensual Indulgence, one of many works with a title that would have looked at home among the tracks on a George Michael album, which realised £237,500.

It was fitting, perhaps, that the Evening Auction closed with the poignant And if I don’t meet you no more…, a neon by Cerith Wyn Evans, which comfortably set a new artist record by medium when it sold for £68,750. The sentiment expressed in the work has been shared by many who have come to Christie’s over recent weeks to celebrate the life, the music and the generosity of George Michael.

VIRTUAL TOUR

The George Michael Collection Evening Auction | Browse Lots

The George Michael Collection Online Auction | Browse Lots

Source: Christies.com