Celebrity Artist Sylvester Stallone's Artwork Sells for as Much as $50K at Miami's Art Basel

Celebrity artists are a big part of today's art scene. Sylvester Stallone's artwork has sold for as much as $50K at the opening for Art Basel in Miami, as reported at TMZ and The Miami Herald. Dressed in a black suit and black sunglasses, the actor sold a piece for $40K to Las Vegas powerhouse Steve Wynn and one for $50K to an art gallery. Celebrities such as Stallone have learned that art as a second gig can be lucrative.

Celebrity artist Ringo Starr

If you're a Beatles fan and an art fan, and you've got some big bucks, you will hit a gold mine with work by members of the Beatles. Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr have all discovered art as a second gig.

Ringo Star is a pop artist. His art focuses on zany human faces in colorful arrangements. Says Ringo, "I started in the late nineties with my computer art. While I was touring it gave me something to do in all those crazy hotels you have to stay in on the road."

Celebrity artist Eve Plumb

Remember her as Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch? Eve Plumb is now a painter, although she still acts when she can. Eve Plumb is 51 years old and has been painting since she was 31, long after her "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha" days. Says Plumb, "Painting is a creative outlet for me when I'm not acting. It gives me a feeling of control over my creative life. An actor often has to wait for projects to come along, but I can paint any time of the day. I sometimes describe my art as 'spontaneous still life'."

Celebrity artist Jane Seymour

Although fans remember when Jane Seymour was eliminated from Dancing with the Stars, the actress, still beautiful at 58, although old by Hollywood standards, is an accomplished painter. Her oil paintings are bright and remind one of paintings by Renoir or Monet. At the Celebrity Fine Art website, "Prompted by a period of personal challenge, her art became the expression of a very private healing process. She emerged from this experience as an accomplished, passionate painter. Seymour sketches and paints at her Malibu studio, on movie sets and on her travels. She has created an intimate world of delicate watercolors and colorful vibrant oil paintings."

Celebrity artist Marilyn Manson

The brazen, alternative rocker has a soft side, he's a painter with watercolor as his medium. Says Manson, "I wasn't intending for any of these pieces to be for anybody but myself or the friends that I did portraits of and would give as gifts. I never intended to show them, much less sell them, until several years of paintings built up. And when people would come to my house, they would urge me to show people my art."

Being a celebrity artist means a studio can benefit from the artwork, but more importantly, the name. This often equates to automatic sales, whether the celebrity has attended art school or not. Sylvester Stallone's artwork is just a small portion of the celebrity art that is available for those with the means to buy it.

Sources:

Sly Stallone's Art Wynns Big Money, TMZ

Fabiola Santiago, Lydia Martin, Jane Wooldridge and Audra D.S. Burch, Art Basel opens with pomp and optimism, The Miami Herald

Celebrity Fine Art - Jane Seymour

Eve Plumb's Website

Rock Star Gallery - Ringo Starr

Marilyn Manson's website