Friday, May 20, 2011

Baseball Legend Hits It Out Of The Park At Auburn Auction

And so does Michael's art!

In grand fashion, Mr. October's Wimbledon White with Guardsman Blue stripes, 1965 Shelby Mustang brought in a whopping $225,000 at the Auburn Auction Park this past weekend. We were lucky enough to be there and to meet the man himself .... several times! Turns out, Reggie Jackson is not only a baseball legend and a classic car buff, but he has a wonderful appreciation for great art as well.

We met him for the first time while setting up on Thursday after a 7.5 hour drive - we were a little wilted, but still in the game, so to speak. Then again on Friday, and Saturday too. It's not surprising then, that he now has several of Michael's pieces in his collection. Including a great big canvas of "C1, See Them All." Needless to say, after selling his Shelby for top dollar, his spirits were high and he was gracious enough to let me snap a couple of photos.

Checking out the Corvette Gallery
Edition Canvas, "C1, See Them All",
and getting ready to shake on it!
Baseball Legend "Mr. October", Reggie Jackson
with Automotive Artist Michael Irvine.
 Corvette painting, "C1, See Them All"
covers all six generations of 'America's
favorite sports car'.


Seems to me that it's also a bit of a coincidence (maybe fate), that Michael was just finishing up his latest painting, "Pure As The Driven Snow", featuring one of the big ticket cars that Reggie sold at the auction! The all Shelby painting will be released in early June, and it's going to be spectacular.

As for the Auction, it was pretty good overall. Not one of the best events we've attended, but from what I hear, it's come a long way already from when Kruse ran things. It's sure to grow in years to come - it's definitely got the potential and RM is a great organization, with excellent people working with and for them.

It'll be interesting too, to see what other celebrities make the trip. I have no doubt Michael's work is adorning the walls, and will continue to hang in, many a prominent home!

Here's to a Grand Slam spring & summer!!
See you at the big show!
Linda