Tyler Perry may have won high-priced artwork over a famous 6-year-old a year ago, but this year he was no match for a fellow charity event honoree.
The movie mogul hoped to go home with a piece of Nipsey Hussle artwork when he attended Tina Knowles Lawson and husband Richard Lawson’s annual Wearable Art Gala June 1. However, his hopes were dashed when he was surprisingly outbid.
The moment was captured on camera Saturday at “The Lion King”-themed event, a theme befitting Knowles-Lawson, since her daughter Beyoncé provides voice work in the upcoming live-action remake of the 1994 animated film. During the event benefiting the WACO Theater Center in Los Angeles, TMZ reported bidding started at $10,000. Perry was seen proudly standing and putting in his own $55,000 bid, going back and forth with fellow honoree Felicia Horowitz, a Compton, California, native who has dedicated her work to helping marginalized people. At stake was a 2019 original portrait of Nipsey by Tiffany Anderson, which she made using acrylic, mica flakes, crystal, broken glass and resin on a wood panel.
“The Marathon Continues FOREVER. A Nipsey Hussle contribute 🏁🏁 this piece is for @mstinalawson and @wacotheater’s Wearable Art Gala this evening… Thoughts?” the artist said on her Instagram page this weekend of the artwork created in the memory of the rapper who was shot and killed in March. “🏁🏁💙💙 #themarathoncontinues #ripnipsey #nipseyhussle #theprettyartist The piece is made of broken glass and acrylic*. ILL NEVER STOP.”
However, it wasn’t meant to belong to Perry, who was there to receive the Trailblazer Award. Instead, Everyday People honoree Horowitz took home the 60” x 48″ piece for $100,000.
The loss came in front of Knowles-Lawson’s superstar daughter, Bey, along with her husband Jay-Z and their oldest daughter Blue Ivy Carter. It follows a bidding war Perry entered at last year’s Wearable Art Gala when Blue raised her paddle and bid $17,000 for an acrylic painting of a young Sidney Poitier, Vanity Fair reported. As the price climbed, Blue remained determined, despite her rapper dad jokingly trying to take away her paddle. The now-7-year-old bid $19,000, but it was no match for Perry. The director, who recently wrapped his nationwide “Madea’s Farewell Play Tour,” ultimately won the portrait for $20,000, coming out much luckier than he did this year.
