Bono’s Art Up for NYC Auction

WE all know that Bono is an amazing singer/songwriter, a tireless crusader on behalf of the AIDS crisis in Africa and just a great guy in general – trust us, he is! – and now we can add another skill to the aforementioned list – painter.

The U2 frontman, known for writing timeless lyrics, transformed his pen into a paintbrush earlier this year, and with the help of his two daughters, Jordan and Eve, he has created 16 really lovely paintings which represent a new take on the children’s classic Peter and the Wolf. 

An auction of the works will take place at Christie’s in Manhattan on Friday evening, and every penny of the proceeds will be donated to the Irish Hospice Foundation, which collaborated with Bono and his good friend, Irish rock musician Gavin Friday, on the worthy project. Bono, by all accounts, was an extremely willing participant.

If you happen to be strolling the streets of New York and care to see the work of Bono and his daughters, Christie’s will host a public viewing of the paintings this Friday, November 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at its 20 Rockefeller Plaza location. Admission is free.

The paintings are diverse in scope – some are as large as 25 feet in height – and Bono’s work has hit the road, as it’s already been on display in London and Dublin. 

The Irish Hospice Foundation is particularly dear to Bono, as hospice care was made available to his father, who passed away in 2001. Gavin Friday and the Irish Hospice Foundation decided to proceed with a re-working of Peter and the Wolf as a fundraising exercise which will help the foundation’s work both at home and internationally.

Bono’s paintings are featured in a 64-page book published by the foundation, and a CD containing a musical interpretation of Peter by Friday and his musical collaborator, Maurice Seezer. The book and CD are available for purchase at www.peterwolf.org. What a nice Christmas gift the package would make, and raising money for a cause as worthy as hospice care is an extra-special thing to do around the holidays.

“These angels who were so ready to look after my father in his losing fight with cancer, asked me to illustrate the book that accompanies the music,” Bono says.

“I asked my girls Jordan and Eve to help me with detail and a filigree of flowers. I painted myself in the corner as Peter. My da, we made the grandfather, as he was to Jordan and Eve, my two daughters who loved and were loved by him.”

Hopefully the auction will raise a ton of money on Friday night. It will be preceded by a private, invitation only reception with Bono and some of his supermodel friends, including Naomi Campbell and Helena Christensen.